[7] Thabana Ntlenyana, like the broader highlands around it, is made of amygdaloidal flood basalt that formed during the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic epochs.

[8] Nearby the mountain are the headwaters of the Orange River, which runs approximately 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) to the west before draining into the Atlantic Ocean.

[11] Vegetation in the Maloti is known to vary with the surface geomorphic features beneath it, such as the soil's grain size, carbon content, and depth.

Some of the most prevalent grass, sedge, and ericoid species are Merxmuellera disticha, M. drakensbergensis, Poa banana, Carex clavata, and Scirpus falsus.

At the summit, the African stonechat (Saxicola torquata), sickle-winged chat (Cercomela sinuata), and African pipit (Anthus cinnamomeus) dominated, while the lower foothills were home to more of the sentinel rock thrush (Monticola explorator), Drakensberg siskin (Pseudochlor.