THE PLANT ECOLOGY OF THE COAST P.ELT OF NATAL. 421 



It often forms small clumps by itself, or it is associated with 

 such species as An tides ma venosum, Strychnos 

 spinosa, Brachylaena discolor, Clerodendron glab- 

 rum, Erythrina caffra. 



(b) Vangueria infausta. — It is rather common as a pioneer 

 all along the south coast. It is a low-growing species, either 

 a shrub or small tree, as a rule. 



(c) RoYENA sp. (viLLOSA?). — This shrub is very conmionly 

 associated with the Vangueria. 



The above are very primitive types in the succession, and 

 several other species might be included Avith them. 



(d) Mesophytic Tree Veld. — Where the majority of the 

 species listed above occurs, the mesophytic tree veld leads on 

 to mesophytic scrub, which will be dealt with in the following 

 section. Such tree veld is common everywhere along the 

 south coast from Port Shepstone to Durban and along the 

 north coast to Zululand, in all the moister situations, e. g. 

 in the sheltei^ed valleys and where the rainfall is slightly 

 higher. On the north coast, however, it is mixed with the 

 more xerophytic thorn veld, dominated by Acacias. 



(e) Hygrophilous Tree Veld. — This type occurs in situations 

 near the stream banks or in soil where aliundant water occurs 

 at no great depth, and is common all along the coast, 

 especially behind the dunes. The uniDoni, Eugenia cor- 

 data, is the most characteristic tree (PL XXIV, fig. 2), but 

 Ficus capensis, F. natalensis, Rauwolfia natalensis. 

 Acacia caffra, Combretum salicif olium, Trema 

 bracteolata, Pittosporum viridiflorum, Rhus vimi- 

 nalis, Royena pallens, Macaranga capensis, Grewia 

 lasiocarpa, Melianthus spp., Cliffortia strobilifera, 

 Trimeria grandifolia, Burchellia capensis, Voa- 

 canga dregei, Psoralea pinnata, Grnidia ovalifolia, 

 Ochna atropurpurea, Spirostachys africana, My- 

 rica conifer a, in so far as they occur in tree veld, all 

 belong to the same class. The succession advances quickly 

 towards scrub or forest. 



(f) Rocky Tree Veld. — This is another primitive type, like 



