2 Annals of the South African Museum. 



VII. A COMPARISON OF THE FLORA OF THE EASTERN MOUNTAIN AND 



SOUTH-EASTERN REGIONS . . .31 



VIII. SUMMARY ........ 32 



IX. LIST OF SPECIES OCCURRING IN THK EASTERN MOUNTAIN REGION, 



WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES . . . .33 



X. INDEX TO G-ENEHA ....... 372 



I. INTRODUCTION. 



THE present paper is the outcome of an investigation undertaken by 

 the writer, of the flora of Leribe in northern Basutoland. Hitherto 

 Basutoland has not received the attention from botanical collectors 

 which it deserves, and the only collections as far as I am aware, are 

 those of Cooper, who journeyed through Basutoland (unfortunately 

 his plants are not properly localised) ; the Rev. J. Buchanan, who 

 botanised in the Leribe District ; Mr. J. Thode, who collected on the 

 Basutoland side of the Drakensbergen ; and Mr. E. E. Galpin, who 

 explored the high mountains separating Basutoland from Barkly 

 East and as far inland as the Buffalo River Waterfall. The results 

 of Mr. G-alpin's investigations were read before the South African 

 Association for the Advancement of Science in 1908. 



The Rev. H. Dieterleu and his wife, Madame A. Dieterleu, of the 

 French Protestant Missionary Society, who were stationed for many 

 years at Leribe, have been deeply interested in the local flora. 

 Madame Dieterlen has made an exhaustive collection of the native 

 plants, the bulk of which she forwarded to the South African Museum 

 herbarium for identification. The writer has thus had unique 

 opportunities during the past seven years of becoming fairly well 

 acquainted with a part of the Basutoland flora, and more especially 

 with that of Leribe. In February 1913, he paid a visit to Leribe 

 for the purpose of studying the flora on the spot. 



When naming Madame Dieterlen's plants and comparing them 

 with the specimens in our herbarium, I was particularly struck by the 

 fact that so many of the species also occurred in the Eastern parts 

 of South Africa such as the Transkei, Komgha, Pondoland, East 

 Griqualand, Natal, etc., and then came to the conclusion that 

 Basutoland ought not to be included in the Kalahari Region. This 

 led me to make a more detailed study of the subject, with the result 

 that I have attempted in the following pages to prove what Bolus :;: 

 first suggested, viz. that Basutoland and parts of the surrounding 

 country form a distinct floral area. 



* " Sketch of the Floral Regions of South Africa," Science iu South Africa. 

 Cape Town. 1905. 



