160 BOOKS AND CURRENT LITERATURE 



Vegetation of South Africa. — A very brief account of the vege- 

 tation of South Africa below Lat. 22° S. has been pubhshed by Evans. ^ 

 The leading components of the several types of vegetation are listed, 

 but little attempt is made to describe the vegetational characteristics 

 of these areas. The woodland vegetation is subdivided into forest 

 and scrub, areas which are confined to the immediate vicinity of the 

 Cape; into bush-veld, found mainly in the Transvaal; and palm forest, 

 skirting the eastern coast down to Lat. 32'". The grassland is sub- 

 divided into high veld, occupying southern Transvaal and Orange 

 Free State; thorn veld, lying in Natal and eastern Cape of Good Hope; 

 and the Kalahari grassland, lying in the interior. The desert areas 

 are those of the Namib, lying on the Atlantic coast; Namaqualand, 

 lying in the western interior; the Karroid plateau, in northern Cape of 

 Good Hope; and the Karroo, adjacent to the scrub and forest of the 

 Cape. An excellent series of 48 illustrations conveys a vivid impres- 

 sion of these types of vegetation, and a colored map shows their general 

 distribution. In spite of the much more detailed work of Marloth it is 

 of interest to have this addition to our knowledge of the vegetation of 

 one of the most diversified of all the regions which are in danger of 

 profound alteration through human agency. One of the greatest 

 limitations to the economic development of the Union of South Africa 

 is most patently shown on the vegetation map in the extremely small 

 size of the forested area. — Forrest Shreve. 



1 Evans, I. B. Pole. The Plant Geography of South Africa. Official Year 

 Book, Union of South Africa. Pretoria, 1918. 



