Africa's biogeography is characterized by exceptional diversity, primarily divided between the Palearctic realm in the north and the Afrotropical realm across sub-Saharan Africa, shaped by tectonic history, climate, and major physiogeographic barriers like the Sahara Desert and the Great Rift Valley. This has resulted in a wide array of ecosystems, from hyper-arid deserts to lush rainforests and species-rich montane regions. In Africa, due to the characteristic latitudinal position, the environmental diversity is mirrored in the proliferation of its flora. The continent has seemingly eight different biomes, or nine if the anthropogenically influenced forest-poor highlands of the upper Karoo in Lesotho are included. They range from the equatorial tropical rain forest to the surrounding savanna woodland and grassland to the tropical and subtropical semi-deserts and deserts. The northwest and southwest edges of the continent show the characteristic Mediterranean hard-leaf and maquis vegetation. In addition to these major vegetational zones, in the highlands and mountain massifs of High Africa, altitudinal zones corresponding to the tropical high climates can be differentiated.