444 ZONES AND REGIONS [Pt. Ill, Sect. II 



of Habranthus phycelloides attract attention principally on the mountain sides ; 

 then Triteleia porrifolia dominates, and in October and the beginning of November, 

 the chief flowering season of the year, it becomes impossible to name any plants 

 that are specially prominent. But even then the first signs of the desiccation and 

 death of the vegetation appear on specially exposed points, particularly in the 

 disappearance of the species of Tillaea and of Poa annua. At the same time, 

 from the end of September or the beginning of October the deciduous trees (Fagus 

 obliqua, poplars, fruit-trees) become adorned with new leaves and eventually 

 with flowers. From the end of October onwards, the abundance of flowers 

 steadily decreases; Alstroemeria Liglu and Habranthus chilensis, locally with 

 the Compositae Triptilion spinosum and Cephalophora plantaginea, again impart 

 a floral beauty that lasts till December. Finally, Noticastrum Haplopappus, 

 Madia sativa, Wahlenbergia linarioides, Cephalophora aromatica, Boisduvalia 

 concinna, with occasional stragglers of other species, remain as the last flowering 

 herbs in the otherwise brownish-yellow tract. The reappearance of Oxalis lobata 

 finally heralds the appearance of a new vegetative period. In the ravines occupied 

 by numerous shrubs, and in the forests, this cycle of change is less marked ; 

 but it is quite apparent both in the vegetation of herbaceous perennials and in 

 the vital activity of woody plants (sprouting, flowering, fruiting).' 



Just as in Central Chili, so also near Cape Town, there are flowers at every 

 season, but chiefly in spring ; September is the month that is richest in flowers ; 

 autumn is poor in blossom. According to Thode 1 , winter (May-July) is characterized 

 by the flowering of Oxalidaceae ; spring (August-October) particularly by that of 

 Compositae, Iridaceae, Ficoideae, Proteaceae ; summer (November-January) by 

 that of Geraniaceae and Crassulaceae ; and autumn (February- April) by that of 

 Amaryllidaceae. East Cape Colony also has chiefly spring flowers. 



According to Behr 2 , herbaceous plants in South Australia flower shortly after 

 the end of the rainy season ; the Eucalypti and Acacia retinodes in spring ; the 

 Loranthi in the midst of the dry season. The scrub blossoms chiefly at the 

 beginning of the dry season, in September, October, and November, but also 

 throughout its whole duration ; on the other hand, the rainy season is very poor in 

 flowers (Astroloma and others). The grassland puts on the whole of its floral 

 beauty all at once, at the beginning of summer. 



In the districts enumerated above, which in some cases possess summer rain, 

 and in others winter rain, the beneficial influence of the cool temperature on the 

 development of flowers is universally revealed in the form of an after-effect. In 

 other respects conclusions regarding the effective factors cannot be drawn from 

 such scanty data. 



SELECT LITERATURE. 

 Askenasy, E. Ueber die jahrliche Periode der Knospen. Botanische Zeitung. 



Bd. XXXVII. 1877. 

 Behr, H. Ober die Verhaltnisse der siidaustralischen Flora im Allgemeinen. 



Linnaea. Bd. XXII. 1847. 

 Brandis, D. Effect of Seasons upon the Flowering of Plants. Indian Forester, 

 1882. Also Nature, 1882. 



1 Thode, op. cit. 2 Behr, op. cit., p. 552. 



