122 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



Itu is a small station some distance up the Cross River, less than 

 a day's journey by launch from Calabar. In the farm clearings the 

 usual farm flora is found, but in the shade of the forest fringing 

 the river and the tributary creeks, the myxo-tiora, so far as I could 

 judge in the time at my disposal, appeared to be quite rich. 



Meko lies towards the Dahomey boundary, less than three full 

 days' trek north of the large town of Abeokuta. It is largely a 

 district of grass savannah, where elephant-grass {Pennisetum 

 'purpureiim Schum.) grows five or six feet high. The monotony of 

 the grass land is relieved by narrow strips of fringing forest along 

 the sides of streams. The flora is of a swamp order of a special 

 kind, for the rainfall although not above forty inches seems 

 to be held up by a vast deposit of "pan" which occurs over 

 a great extent of the district. At many places outcrops of this 

 " pan " are seen to take the form of a polished crust of ironstone, 

 such as is found in many parts of West Africa. The Phanero- 

 gamic flora of the Meko district is for this reason of a very 

 distinctive character. Trees are few in number and in species, the 

 most characteristic being the so-called African Oak, Lophira alata 

 {DipterocarpacecB), and species of Acacia I only managed to secure 

 one myxo, Physarum roseuiii, in my very brief visit to the district. 



Ibadan is 120 miles by rail north-east of Lagos. The climate 

 is of an upland type, suited rather to cotton cultivation than to 

 cocoa, though the latter can be grown along the sides of the 

 numerous streams that intersect the country. The annual rainfall 

 rarely exceeds 50 in.; the year 1914 was exceptionally dry, only 

 35 in. being recorded. When it is remembered that this included 

 the fall of two tornado seasons which mark the beginning and end 

 of the rains, during which perhaps a dozen tornadoes take place 

 adding anything from half an inch to an inch in a few hours to 

 the rainfall, it can be realised that this is rather a dry country, 

 much drier than many parts of England. A continuous day's 

 rain is uncommon, still less two or three wet days running. The 

 dry season extends from November to March. During the whole 

 of this time the rainfall may only amount to a small fraction of 

 an inch ; the sky is practically cloudless, and what breeze there is 

 during the day is hot and parching. Very soon the Harmattan, 

 a dust-laden wind which blows from the north, makes its presence 

 felt on the mucous membranes ; the boards of books left lying on 

 the table inside one's quarters towards midday begin to bend 

 upwards ; the iron studs in the soles of one's boots get loose and 

 drop out, and evening with its cool breeze comes as a relief. The 

 nights are often very cold, and one has to guard against careless 

 exposure to the sun by day or to the chill air by night. At this 

 season 103° F. is about the highest shade record, and at night it 

 may fall to below sixty degrees. The astonishing thing is that 

 any vegetation contrives to keep alive. Yet the scrub though 

 rather jaded in appearance still has a lot of life in it. Heavy niglit 

 dews are of frequent occurrence ; these no doubt mitigate the 

 severity of the parching days, and explain why many plants 

 survive, But before the Dog Star parches the fields and the 



