Dicots are the largest class of flowering plants in South Africa. They are characterized by their two embryonic leaves, which sets them apart from their monocot (one embryonic leaf) counterparts. A large portion of this class is covered by the four orders Asterales (sunflowers, bellflowers, fanflowers and allies), Caryophyllales (pinks, cactususe and allies), Fabales (legumes, milkworts and allies) and Lamiales (mints, plantains, olives and allies).

The Cape Floral Kingdom is home to a lot of plant families within the dicot class. Most of this kingdom is associated with the Fynbos biome, which has two key vegetation groups: Fynbos and Renosterveld.

 The Fynbos vegetation is characterized by the presence of a restio, heath and protea species (to put it simply). The protea and heath families are dicots, the restios are monocots. Proteas are the most famous within the Fynbos vegetation. No wonder that the King Protea is South Africa’s national plant. But it is the heath species that are the most numerous.

 The Renosterveld vegetation is characterized by the dominance of the daisy, pea, gardenia, cocoa and thyme family. One species in particular dominates in this vegetation, the grey-colored Renosterbush (Dicerothamnus rhinocerotis). However, members of the Fynbos vegetation tend to occur here in low numbers.

Another unique biome, with a lot of dicots, is the Succulent Karoo. The two prominent families in this biome are the Stone Plant family and Stonecrop family. The leaves of these plants are (more or less) succulent and most species are well adapted to semi-arid environments. Within the Stone Plant family, there are some unusual looking species that resemble gemstones, rocks or pebbles and are sometimes referred to as 'living stones'.

Scattered throughout the many different families, within the dicot class, are some iconic trees. For example the African Baobab, Marula, Mopane, Sausage Tree, Umbrella Thorn, Stinkwood and Black Ironwood. Among these trees grow some living legends. In the Limpopo province, there is an African Baobab with a girth of over 30m. Some tree species are estimated to be around 1000 years old, some trees can reach up to 40m high and have crown sizes of up to 60m wide.

Other trees in this class are mangroves. They are found in river mouths, estuaries and lagoons along the coastline of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal. Most common are the Grey Mangrove (Avicennia marina), the Orange Mangrove (Bruguiera gymnorhiza) and the Indo-West Pacific Stilt Mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata). Although these mangroves begin to appear north of East London, the first well-developed mangrove forest is found in the Mngazana estuary.