172 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



at home, and the writer noted a common Mexican bush-poppy 

 (Hunneinannia) growing with remarkable luxuriance. 



In September the end of the dry season was approaching, and a 

 number of showy trees and shrubs were coming into flower. 

 Especially notable were the pendent racemes of yellow flowers of 

 Cassia fistula, the "golden shower," of Honolulu, and the rosy 

 flowers of the related Bauhinia sp. and scarlet flowered Erythrina. 



North of Bulawayo, where one takes the train for the Victoria 

 Palls, lies the rugged range of granite hills, the Matoppos, where 

 rests the body of Cecil Rhodes. From these barren granite rocks 

 one looks over a vast expanse of "bosch- veldt," the trees growing 

 fairly close together in some parts, elsewhere more scattered. 

 Between are bunch-grasses, especially species of Andropogon, and 

 Aristida stipoides, the latter a very tall and striking species. 



Although the climate is rather w T arm temperate than tropical, 

 nevertheless many species are of equatorial origin, and are wide- 

 spread over the great central African plateau. 



Among the largest trees were several species of Ficus, among 

 them a variety of the sycamore fig, sometimes 25 to 30 feet high. 

 I )t her t rees or large shrubs are species of Dombeya (Sterculiaceae) 

 with white or pink flowers which are occasionally cultivated in Cali- 

 fornia; Terminalia, Erythrina, Pterocarpus, Combretum, Cassia, 

 Strychnos, and others. Leguminosae are particularly abundant. 

 On some of the trees were growing parasites of the mistletoe 

 family, Loranthus and Viscum, and an epiphytic orchid (Ansellia 

 African a). 



Shrubby plants in great variety grow between the trees, some 

 belonging to familiar types like sumacs and mallows; other 

 characteristic genera are Colpoon (Santalaceae), Turraea (Mel- 

 iaceae), Clerodendron (Verbenaceae), Euclea (Ebenaceae), Coffea 

 Engleri (Rubiaceae). 



Among the rocks of the Matoppos, stunted trees and shrubs 

 find a foot-hold. One of these, the " Natal plum " (Carissa edulis), 

 is sometimes cultivated in Florida and Southern California. 



These rocky situations offer a congenial habitat for numerous 

 succulents: Euphorbias, Aloes and a curious leafless plant (Sar- 

 costemma) of the milkweed family. Several xerophytic ferns, 

 (Cheilanthes, Pellaea), and a club-moss (Selagenella Dregei), grow 

 in the rock crevices. 



