A NOTE ON THE FLORA OF THE GREAT WINTER- 



HOEK RANGE.* 



By Edwin Percy Phillips. ATA., D.Sc, F.L.S. 



The area investigated botanically was the Sneeinvgat Valley, and 

 the mountains and valleys surrounding" it, including the Great Win- 

 terhoek itself. The Winterhoek Peak reaches an altitude of 6,8x8 

 feet ; on the Tulbagh side it is precipitous, but on the northern 

 side the slopes fall gradually away. At the base of the Peak is 

 the Sneeuwgat Valley, which is entered by a nek between the 

 Little Winterhoek and the Witzenberg Range. The Sneeuwgat 

 Valley has an average altitude of about 4,000 feet, is well 

 watered, and has several kloofs entering it from the mountains on 

 the north-east. As the valley a})proaches the W'itzenberg Range 

 it gradually widens out and merges into the slopes of the Witzen- 

 berg. 



This region was visited on two occasions, vi:::.. in A])ril and 

 November, 1916, and consequently species were collected on the 

 first visit which were not recorded in the second, and 7'icr versa. 

 April appears to be near the end of the flowering season for most 

 plants, except the heaths, which were more numerous than at the 

 beginning of the season, in November. 



As the slopes of the Winterhoek are ascended frtjm Mr. 

 Theron's farm at the head of the Tulbagh Valley, the change in 

 the character of the vegetation is very marked. The streams at 

 the foot of the mountain are lined with trees, while the o])en slopes 

 carry fine specimens of the Waaboom {Proted grandiflora). 

 Between 2.000 to 3,000 feet the trees diasppear and the slopes 

 are covered with dense bush, such as Salvia africano, Psoralea 

 pinnata, tall plants of Sutherlandla frufescens, Rhus spp., etc. 

 Above the 3,000 feet level — more noticeable, however, between 

 3,500 and 4,000 feet — the vegetation again changes, and the t^U 

 bush is replaced by small shrubs, grasses, and sedges. In some 

 places large patches were covered with Borhart'ia robiista. Perhaps 

 the largest bush present at this altitude was Barosma pnchella, 

 two to three feet high, which is very common, and gives oiT a 

 strong lemon-like odour. A few sttmted specimens of Podocarpns 

 latifolius were seen growing quite isolated among some rocks, 

 and were evidently outliers from the lower levels. The true 

 tnountain flora starts from an altitude of 3,500 feet. A partial 

 study of the flora of the Matroosberg, on the Ceres side (recently 

 undertaken) leads me to suppose that a line indicating the lower- 

 most limits of the mountain flora in the Western Province will 

 not always be at the same altitude, but will rise and fall according 

 to the locality in question, and that altitude alone is not the 

 deciding factor. At present I am not in a position to discuss this 

 fully, but from my observations on several mountain trips I am 



* The data for this paper were gathered when on a collecting expedi- 

 tion for the South African Museum, Capetown. 



