THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



FLOWERS OF SOUTH AFRICA 



By E. H. Wilson, M. A., V. M. H. 

 Assistant Director, Arnold Arboretum. 



Illustrated lecture given in the American Museum of Natural 

 History, Thursday, April 12, 1923. 



(Mr. Leonard Barron, presiding.) 



SOUTH AFRICA is a land of sunshine and the climate gen- 

 erally is cooler than that found in similar latitudes in the 

 northern hemisphere. It teems with lovely plants suitable for our 

 greenhouses and outdoor gardens of the warmer states. Indeed, 

 "Cape Plants" as they are called, rank among our indispensable 

 garden material. Our Nerines, Freesias, Gladiolus, Clivias, Strep- 

 tocarpus. Zonal and Regal Pelargoniums are all derived from 

 plants native of the Cape of Good Hope. Thus our debt to the 

 southern tip of Africa is very considerable yet it is comparatively 

 light to what it ought to be. 



Cape Town is the usual landing place of visitors to South Africa 

 and there is no better place to commence our inquiry into the 

 floral resources of the country. The city is charmingly situated 

 along the shores of Table Bay with Table Mountain rising behind 

 the town in a sheer precipice cutting the skyline with a jagged hori- 

 zontal front two miles in length. The Cape promontory with its 

 bold head-lands stretches some forty miles south to Cape Point. 

 A narrow, sandy neck separates Table and False bays and joins 

 the promontory to the mainland. Around Cape Town the Stone 

 or Table Pine (Pinus pine a) of Italy and the Cluster Pine (Pinus 

 piyiaster) of southwestern Europe have been planted in quantity 

 and form magnificent avenues and groves. Near by are fine plan- 

 tations of the Monterey or Insignis Pme (Pinus radiata) of CaH- 

 fornia. Many other trees, notably the common Oak of Europe 

 (Quercus robur) and various Eucalyptus have been extensively 

 planted and it is astonishing how luxuriantly all these exotic trees 

 flourish. The isthmus of shifting sands dividing the bays has 

 been made available for residential purposes by the planting of 



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