I'.is OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



Much of the land on the windward side is covered with heavy 

 rain-forest, but on the west side the vegetation is very much 

 like those parts of British South Africa which lie in the same 

 latitude. There is a marked dry season and the vegetation is 

 more or less decidedly xerophytic. Aloes, Euphorbias, Acacias, 

 and other characteristic South African types abound, and in 

 some places Cacti, introduced from America, have become nat- 

 uralized. The extreme southwest of Madagascar is very dry, 

 and may be called a desert. 



In the rain-forest and the moister portions of the mountains, 

 ferns are very abundant, and orchids are also a marked feature 

 of the vegetation. One of the most striking of the orchids 

 is a species of Angraecum, sometimes seen in cultivation, which 

 has a spur, or nectary, a foot long ! 



There are many striking species peculiar to Madagascar, 

 some of which are not uncommon in cultivation. Of these may 

 be mentioned the " Flamboyant" (Pointiana regia), perhaps 

 the showiest tree in cultivation, with its masses of flaming scar- 

 let flowers. The " traveller's tree" (Ravenala Madagascariensis) 

 is sometimes grown in warmer countries, where its great fan of 

 big banana-leaves at once attracts attention; and sometimes 

 one sees in conservatories the curious lace-leaved water-plant, 

 Ouvinandra fenestralis. 



Other characteristic plants are a peculiar screw-pine (Pandanus 

 obeliscus), a handsome crape-myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.), sl palm 

 (Raphia ruffia), and several rubber-plants, species of Vahea. 



Some of the trees — e. g., Weinmannia, Elaeocarpus, Casuarina — 

 are reminiscent of the Malayan- Australian region; but the bulk 

 of the vegetation, especially in the drier parts, is unmistakably 

 African. In the cooler mountain districts there are many species 

 either identical or closely related to those of the highlands of 

 Abyssinia and the Cape region. 1 



East of Madagascar are the Mascarene Islands, which like 

 most tropical mountainous islands are notable for the great 

 profusion of ferns. Orchids are also very abundant, and there are 

 a number of interesting palms. Some of the latter are closely 

 related to those of the African mainland — but others are more 

 nearly allied to those of Indo-Malaya, or even of America. 2 



1 Drude loc. ciL, pp. 475-476. 2 Ibid., p. 476. 



