346 WAYFARING NOTES IN RHODESIA. 



gling procumbent branches are in fruit. The fruit I first saw in 

 the dried state ; it was courteously shown to me by Prof. Macowan, 

 the botanist to the Cape Government. The flower has a pretty 

 pink tint, recalling that of Erica TetraUx. The leaves, prettily cut, 

 have a suggestion of sage-green in their tint, most marked in the 

 younger leaves. The plant delights in a thin sandy soil where other 

 growth is scanty, smiles — if the licence of smiling be permitted in 

 these pages — and is a villain ; for all the cruelty of its fruit can 

 only be guessed at. Its dread cousin, Rarpagophijtnm, which I have 

 only found, so far, in the neighbourhood of the Shashi river, is 

 frankly horrible. Pretrea is more insidious. Each lateral shoot as 

 it trails from one to several feet over the ground may carry up to a 

 dozen or more separate fruits. The general outline of these cap- 

 sular fruits is oval. Undried they average f in. in length by f in. 

 in width. They have much the aspect and contour of some grotesque 

 beetle. The surface to which the stalk is attached is flattened, and 

 lies next to the ground. It is slightly convex, allowing the fruit to 

 work a shallow firm bed for itself in the loose sandy soil. The 

 upper surface of the fruit, distal as regards the point of attachment 

 of the stalk, arches up over the seed chambers, forming a broad 

 firm base for two powerful spikes. These spikes, very sharp and 

 slightly incurved at the ends towards each other, pincer-wise, point 

 directly upwards, and are the weapons which make Pretrea so 

 formidable to any unprotected foot. The inward curve gives them 

 sure grip upon any part they puncture. The average length of the 

 free portion of the spike is, in the fresh specimens, rather more than 

 a quarter of an inch. The plant does not care to be trampled, and 

 favours open sandy tracts where its spikes do not run the risk of 

 being muffled by neighbouring overgrowth. I found it upon one 

 occasion abundant around the holes of jackals, so that possibly the 

 burden and pain of carriage is occasionally laid upon them. The 

 fruit necessarily finds its way into any body, less resistant than 

 itself, that is pressed against it ; that body must usually be an 

 animal foot. What animal, is, to Pretrea, matter of indifference. 

 Had Pretrea been a native of Europe, it would long ago have found 

 its way into proverb and song. 



BLepharis, which was flowering in December, is so still, an 

 ornament in stony places. Also a second species, only now observed 

 in flower, more spiny than the first, in ground which is marshy 

 during the rainy season. A few Crassulas survive in weather-worn 

 fashion, and in the sandy beds of the rivers and streams a few 

 herbaceous things still linger. 



The trees and shrubs furnish a more hopeful field to the col- 

 lector. Many of the trees are in fruit. Noteworthy are several 

 species of Acacia, their pods showing great diversities of size and 

 form ; quite a number of different species of Comhretum ; au 

 arborescent Bauhinia, the pods averaging 8 in. in length by 2 in. 

 in breadth ; two species of P'icus ; several species of Rhus ; Zizij- 

 phiis ; and sundry others which I am sending to the British Museum 

 for determination. Thorns are everywhere ; one has to be per- 

 petually on guard against them. 



