514 J. W. BEVVS. 



with later. The low veld, on the other hand, is the " mealie " 

 country, the mealie (maize) demanding a richer soil than that 

 of the high veld. Ploughing the soil of the low veld changes 

 its most important feature, namely its lack of proper aeration. 

 It becomes much more like the soil of the high veld, but it is 

 richer chemically, having received the valuable decomposition 

 products of the basic igneous rocks that have been dissolved 

 out of the soils oF higher altitudes. 



On such ploughed land there is a great variety of weed^. 

 At first the annuals are commonest, but there are some per- 

 ennials. 



The following grasses commonly occur : 



Panicum isachne, Digitaria sanguinalis, D. ter- 

 nata, Panicum proliferum var. longijubatum, P. 

 leevifolium (occasionally), Cynodon dactylon, Poa 

 annua, Eleusine indica, Chloris pycnothrix, Era- 

 grostis asp era. 



Of other weeds (many of them exotic) the following are 

 typical : 



Bid ens pilosa, Amarantus paniculatus, Clieno- 

 p odium ambrosoides, Nicandra physaloides, Phy- 

 salis peruviana (Cape Gooseberry), Solanum nigrum, 

 Gomphocarpus physocarpus. Convolvulus major, 

 Striga lutea (Witchweed or Isona, parasitic on the roots 

 of the maize), Cy at hula cylindrica, Senecio latifolius, 

 S. juniperina, Ricinus communis (Castor Oil), Zinnia 

 pauciflora. Datura stramonium, Gnaphalium luteo- 

 album, G. sp. (sylvaticum ?), E,umex acetosella, R. 

 sp., Sonchus oleraceus, Phytolacca octandra, Stel- 

 laria media, Senebiera didyma, Adjuratum sp. 



The berries of the Cape Gooseberry are collected by the 

 natives and sold in the towns. The berries of Solanum 

 nigrum, which are considered extremely poisonous in 

 Europe, are certainly not so in Natal. The writer has 

 sampled some excellent jam made from them, and they are 

 commonly collected and eaten. Ricinus communis is very 

 abundant, and if native labour were cheaper, or the seeds could 



