y 3 6 ZONES AND REGIONS [Pt. Ill, Sect. I 



to the nature of the soil. If it be moist and rich in humus, thickets of tall 

 Zingiberaceae appear (species of Curcuma, Kaempferia, Elettaria), which 

 open their beautiful flowers in the second half of the dry season (Sep- 

 tember — October). Specially dry soils are chiefly overgrown by tall 

 grasses, such as the alang-alang (Imperata arundinacea) and glagah (Sac- 

 charum spontaneum, Linn.). Among the numerous, mostly inconspicuous, 

 herbaceous perennials should be mentioned — Malvaceae (Urena, Sida), 

 Compositae (Conyza lacera, Burm., Wollastonia, Adenostemma viscosum), 

 some Araceae, very small Acanthaceae, Commelinaceae ; finally, various 

 Amaryllidaceae that flower in the dry season (Eurycles amboinensis, 

 Pancratium zeylanicum, Crinum asiaticum). 



Except the figs already referred to, epiphytes are very scanty in the 

 djati-forest and are limited to a few small orchids, Asclepiadaceae and 

 Aeschynanthus. The presence of epiphytic ferns is a sign that there are 

 hollows in the branches ; and mosses occur only exceptionally on sound 

 trees. On the other hand parasitic Loranthaceae are very common. 



Most of the herbs mentioned are greatly reduced in size during the dry 

 season, or, if annuals, are entirely absent. In July and August the Ama- 

 ryllidaceae flower, with the Butea ; later on, in September and October, 

 many other plants join in, such as the already mentioned Zingiberaceae, 

 but in particular most of the trees except the teak. Still greater is the 

 show of blossom at the very commencement of the monsoon-rain, in 

 November ; then it is that most of the shrubs blossom, whereas the herbs 

 the development of whose flowers is closely dependent on metabolic activity 

 usually blossom in the rainy season. On the whole, the show of blossom 

 in the djati-forest, in accordance with the greater dryness and stronger 

 light, is far greater than in the rain-forest. 



November is the time when the leaf-canopy is renewed. The teak 

 clothes itself with leaves, at first red, that soon form dense masses of 

 foliage. April, May, and June are the months that are poorest in 

 flower. 



iii. WOODLAND IN TROPICAL EAST AFRICA. 



It is not yet possible to give a satisfactory account of the condition of 

 the vegetation in tropical East Africa south of the equator. There are 

 very few meteorological data, which moreover embrace a short period only, 

 and few botanists have yet travelled through the region. From the 

 accounts given by collectors, and by other travellers devoid of scientific 

 training, the coast country up to the Zambesi river presents the appear- 

 ance of a richly differentiated vegetation with various formations of wood- 

 land, grassland, and desert. What share in this differentiation is due to 

 climate and what to edaphic influences, how far its character is original 

 and how far modified by man, cannot be decided at present. 



