174 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



impression was the occasional presence of a Cassia or Bauhinia, 

 covered with golden or rosy flowers. 



A very common low shrub of the more open country is Protea 

 m t( ; f< /". a member of the Proteaceae, a family particularly abun- 

 dant in the Cape region, but poorly represented in tropical Africa. 



While the country as a whole between Bulawayo and the Zam- 

 besi was very dry and dead-looking, where moisture was present, 

 as along the banks of the infrequent streams, groves of palms 

 (Hyphen m sp-)> 8 ave H 11 ^ a tropical look to the landscape. 



In the dry forest, trees 40-50 feet high are found, mostly Le- 

 guminosae, with spreading crowns. The commonest of these are 

 Baikiaea plurijuga and Copaifera coleosperma. The latter has 

 bifid leaves like those of Bauhinia. Between the trees is a heavy 

 growth of the tall grass, Aristida stipoides. Much of the country 

 is more of the nature of a steppe, in which the baobab is a conspicu- 

 ous feature, and the candelabra-Euphorbias, and Aloes, recall the 

 Cacti and Agaves of Arizona and Mexico. 



A great contrast to the prevailing xerophytic vegetation of 

 this region is seen in those places near the river which get a suffi- 

 ciency of moisture. 



Thus on Livingstone Island, at the brink of the Falls, there is 

 a vegetation of quite tropical luxuriance: palms, figs, orchids, and 

 in the river, clumps of papyrus and other aquatics, offered a strong 

 contrast to the parched dead landscape of the surrounding country. 

 Such delicate moisture-loving plants as bladder-weed (Utricularia) 

 and a pretty Lobelia, as well as other delicate herbs were common, 

 and on rocks in the river, were specimens of a curious aquatic, 

 Podostcmon. 



In a narrow ravine near the Falls, known as "Palmkloof " were 

 many uraceful date-palms (Phoenix reclinata), evergreen figs, 

 and other large trees, with numerous climbing plants and ferns, 

 all testifying to the presence of ample moisture. 



Still more striking is the so-called rain-forest at the edge of the 

 great gorge directly opposite the cataract, and constantly drenched 

 with clouds of spray sent up from the narrow gorge into which the 

 river plunges. The margin of the gorge, within reach of the shower 

 of spray, is clothed with a dense growth of trees, with ferns, or- 

 chids and other characteristic rain-forest species beneath, recalling 

 the meat equatorial rain-forests, although the number of species 



