X()TI-:S ox THE CHEAJISTRY OF THE INAKAS. 

 (ACAA'THOSJCYOS HORRIDA HOOK.) 



B\- \\ iLLK-M V'eksfeld, E.A., D.Sc.^ and Gilbert Frederick 



Britten, B.A. 



{f'lalcs 2-4) 



Some years agu inquiries were made b}- the Soudan 

 .Government as to the possibility of cultivating the valualile 

 .INaras plant in the deserts of Northern Africa. Experiments 

 were made with seeds procured from Waltish Bay, but aiiparently 

 without success. It was in connection with these experiments 

 that investigations were made by the writers as to the nature 

 of the jjlant, and the character of the soils on which it grows. 



It was. not uniiaturallv, assumed that, since this plant 

 ti()uri>he(l ai)parentl_\- onl} under desert conditions, such con- 

 ditions were necessary for its development, and that the water- 

 less deserts of Northern Africa could also sup])ort it. The 

 results of recent investigations have proved that the ! Naras 

 plant of W'alfish Bay is, after all, not so very wonderful, being 

 very well su])])lied with both food and water, and that it thrives 

 not l)ecause of, but in spite of, the desert conditions. Its only 

 really remarkable proi)erty is the ease witli whicbi it overcomes 

 the ])liysical difficulties connected with life on a moving sand- 

 dune. 



Occurrence and Distkh'.ution of tiii-: Plant. 



The ! Naras ])lant. which was disco^■ered by the botanist 

 Welwitsch, is found in considerable quantities at Walfish Bay, 

 and in smaller quantities at a few localities on the coast further 

 north in the neighbourhood of Mossamedcs. The particular 

 state of development at which this ])hun has arrived has so 

 obviouslv been evolved from the unusual combination of circum- 

 stances under which it grows that it is unlikely that a similar 

 plant will be found, or even be made to grow, in other places 

 where different conditions obtain. These conditions, as far as 

 we know at present, are a very dry and warm climate, a loose 

 sandy soil produced in the disintegration of rocks rich in plant 

 foods, almost incessant winds and a good su])ply of deep-seated 

 water. 



In tlie neighbourhood of Walfish Bay, the chief centre 

 from which the ]ilant has s])rea(l ai)i)ears tf) be at Sandfontein, 

 about four miles east of the bay. From this point it has spread 

 some distance inland, and also to Haigamchab, on the Swakop 

 River, and to Pforte, about 40 miles east of Swakopmund. In 

 the sand-dune region along the coast the plant gives rise to the 

 formation of dunes, the growth ])roviding a barrier for the 



The ! represents a palatal click. 



