The southern African flora has been surveyed for the first time at species level in the List of Species of Southern African Plants (Gibbs Russell e tal., 1984). The numbers of taxa recorded for southern Africa are compared to the numbers reported from other parts of Africa, and the largest families in each area are listed and compared The species richness of southern Africa is compared to that of other parts of the world. The numbers of genera, species and infraspecific taxa are given for each familv in the southern African flora, and compared to previous counts bv Dyer (1975. 1976) and Goldblatt (I97H). keywords: endemic species, flora, phytogeography, plant families, species diversity.