Annals of the South African Museum. 



Among the plants which go to make up a plant community wo mav 

 expect, to find plants of very diverse habit and form, and the flora, 

 of Leribe is no exception to this when the individual species are 

 studied. The conditions under which plants live is the dominating 

 factor in determining their form, so that, it is not surprising to find 

 that, nearly all the species, with the exception of those inhabiting Ihe 

 damp shady ra,vines, exhibit marked xerophytic characters, and many, 

 especially from the higher altitudes, assume a sub-alpine habit. (See 

 Pis. V, VI.) 



Annual plants as Cotula anthem oides, Arctotis stoechadifolia, Ursinia 

 annua, Sebaea exigua and Exochaenium grande, which spring up after 

 the summer rains have commenced, are not numerous. The majority 

 of the species are perennials, and exhibit various devices whereby they 

 are enabled to withstand the extreme drought during the winter 

 months from June to September, when less than 2 in. of rain falls for 

 that period. Plants with long tap-roots, thick tuberous roots, and 

 underground woody stems, are common. Sonchus nanus, Ipomoea 

 simplex, Arthrosolen gymnostachys, Lotononis basutica, and Argyro- 

 lobium spp. may be taken as typical of the tap-rooted plants. Senecio 

 erubescens, S.serra, Helichrysum undatum var. pallidum, H. latifolium, 

 Gerberapiloselloides, G. viridifolia have many thick roots. Helichrysum 

 platypterum, H. psilolejns, Othonna natalensis, and Crepis polyodon 

 (PI. VI, fig. 3) are representative of plants Avith woody underground 

 stems. A few plants, such as Brachystelma foetidum and several 

 Orchidaceae, possess underground tubers. Under this category must 

 also be mentioned a number of Monocotyledons with underground 

 bulbs and corms. Plants with a tufted habit forming cushions are 

 not numerous ; the two most typical representatives of this form are 

 Gazania armerioides and Psammotropha androsacea (PI. V, fig. 2). 

 Prostrate plants are represented by Helichrysum ericaefolium var. 

 albidulum, H. caespititium, H. chinosphaerum (PL VI, fig. 4), 

 H. Randii (PI. VI, fig. 2), Lightfootia, denticulata, Lobelia dregetinu, 

 Ursinia montana, Herniaria hirsuta, Argyrolobium nanum, etc. The 

 prostrate creepers met with were Convolvulus capensis var. pliciitu, 

 C. ulosepalus, Ipomoea oblongata var. hirsuta, and Dicoma ariomala. 

 The pi'incipal climbers noted were Clematis brachiata, Bhoicissus 

 (Cissus cuneifolia], Cynanchum virens, and Riocreuxia pic. fa. Sarc.o- 

 stemma viminale and Helichrysum Sutherlandi were the only two 

 pendent species met with. They were both growing on cliff faces and 

 hanging down in festoons. Succulent, plants constitute a very small 

 percentage of the flora both in species and in individuals. Cotyledon 

 orbiculata ma,y perhaps form an exception to the latter statement, as 



