1886.] THE SILVER TREE. 759 



l)econies them to accept." Accepting this ordinance of nature, the 

 wooded area, in limited districts, has been allowed to increase, and in 

 every instance where the decrease of water-power lias been checked 

 or averted, the Commissioners say that it has been by means of the 

 preservation or restoration of the forests. The regulative power of 

 forests receives important testimony in its favour also from the 

 geological report of the State, from which we have the statement 

 (vol. i. p. 124), that when in the central and southern portions of 

 the State the hay crop has been cut short by drought, it has been 

 known to be above the average in the northern part, even with less 

 rainfall, and for the reason that the forests secured a better dis- 

 tribution of the results of rainfall and melted snow. In short, 

 the proper storage and distribution of our water-supply are of much 

 gTcater importance to us than the amount received. 



THE SILVER TEEE. 



FOEMEriLY it was supposed that the silver tree — known to 

 botanists as LeucaiUndron argenteicm, and whose leaves are 

 now so much used for decorative purposes — was restricted to the 

 Table Mountain ; but recent explorations have led to its discovery 

 in several localities in the Drakensteenberg, lying from 50 to 60 

 miles distant ; still there is not the same certainty that the silver 

 tree is really indigenous in these localities, as there is that the 

 glory of the Table ]\Iountain, I)isa (jrandifiora, which also was 

 believed to be peculiar to Table Mountain, is so in the Cedar Moun- 

 tains in the Clanwilliam district, much farther away. 



The silver tree is in every way such a distinct tree, so different 

 in aspect from all its congeners, and so striking an object in the 

 limited district where it is at all common, that any new particulars 

 concerning it are generally interesting. 



Dr. R. Marloth contributes an article on this subject to the 

 current part of Engler's BotaniscJic Jahrhucher, in which he briefly 

 sketches the history and distribution of this remarkable tree, which, 

 it may be mentioned in passing, is well illustrated in the " North " 

 Gallery at Kew, It appears that it has been observed by Mr. 

 H. Bolus, the most accomplished of South African amateur botanists, 

 on the Heldenberg, by Dr. P. D. Hahn on the Schaapenberg, and 

 by the Eev. Mr. Faure on Simonsberg. Discussing the probabilities 

 of the silver tree being indigenous or planted in these localities, 

 which lie some miles apart. Dr. ]\Iarlotli thinks they favour the 

 assumption that the former is the case. Certainly they have not 



