Flora of the Leribe Plateau and Environs. 21 



the first rains which begin to fall about September or October. The 

 " dry period" is not so severe as that which occurs during the corre- 

 sponding months in the western part of the Kalahari, as a comparison 

 with the Table VII on p. 25 will show. 



The only temperature records available are given in the following 

 table : 



TABLE V. Temperature. 



Altitude Number Absolute Absolute 



in feet. of yeari. maximum. minimum. 



Teyateyaiieng 5690 . 6 . 82'3 F. . 33"9 F. 



Mohalie's Hoek . . 5 . 82'2 F. . 30-5 F. 



Leribe . . 5210 . 2 . 83'0 F. . 32'2 F. 



Moyeni Quthing . 6000 . 2 . 82'0 3 F. . 30'8 F. 



Butha Buthe 5500 . 1 . 83'1 F. . 33'6 F. 



It will be seen from the few data above that the extremes of 

 temperature are by no means great. This table should be compared 

 with Table VIII 011 p. 25. The few figures give no indication of the 

 temperature conditions on the high mountain peaks, some of which 

 rise to 10,000 ft. or more. These peaks are among the highest found 

 in South Africa, but none rise above the line of permanent snow, 

 though in winter many of them are capped with snow for days or 

 weeks at a stretch. The proper exploration of the peaks in this Region 

 will undoubtedly yield much that is of botanical interest. 



Throughout this Region frosts are of frequent occurrence on the low 

 ground in winter. 



SYSTEMATIC CONSTITUENTS OF THE FLORA. 



Orders. Genera. Species. 



Cryptogaiuia Vasculares 25 . 53 



Plianerogamia 



Dicotyledons 76 319 . 1041 



Monocotyledons . 15 147 512 



Total (phanerogams) 91 466 1553 



Proportion of Monocotyledons to Dicotyledons 1 : 2'03 



Proportion of genera to species 



Predominating Orders. 



Number of Percentage of 

 species. the whole. 



1. Compositae . . 286 18'05 



2. Gramineae . . 146 



3. Liliaceae . 101 6'37 



4. Leguminosae ... 95 5'99 



