Veld

Veld, also spelled veldt, (/vɛlt/ or /fɛlt/) is a type of wide open rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. A certain sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa has been officially defined as the Bushveld by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Trees are found only in a few places—frost, fire, and grazing animals allow grass to grow but prevent the growth of trees.

Etymology

The word veld (Dutch pronunciation: [fɛlt]) comes from the Afrikaans word for 'field'.

The etymological origin is older Dutch veldt, a spelling that the Dutch abandoned in favour of veld during the 19th century, decades before the first Afrikaans dictionary. Subsequent addition of the terminal "t" in the spelling "veldt" seems to have been mainly an English confusion with the already obsolete Dutch usage; it never was an Afrikaans form.

Climate

The climate of the veld is highly variable, but its general pattern is mild winters from May to September and hot or very hot summers from November to March, with moderate or considerable variations in daily temperatures and abundant sunshine. Precipitation mostly occurs in the summer months in the form of high-energy thunderstorms.