THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



Maram Grass {ArmnophUa arnndinacca) and Acacin saligiia, a 

 West Australian Wattle. The wild flora of the Cape promontory 

 is remarkable for its wealth and diversity. Proteas and Heaths, 

 succulents and bulbous plants, shrubs and herbs in a riot of species 

 flourish. The unique Silver Tree ( Lcucadendron argentemn) and 

 several other plants are known to grow wild nowhere else. On 

 dripping rock walls high up on Table Mountain flourishes Disa 

 uniflora its flower five inches across with bright scarlet sepals and 

 pink labellum perhaps the most spectacularly beautiful terrestial 

 Orchid in the world. And there, too, grow the lovely Anemone 

 capensis with finely divided leaves and white, suffused with pink, 

 blossoms each three inches across and the fine Everlasting, Heli- 

 chrysiim vestitum, whose white heads imported into this country 

 and Europe are much used by florists to whom they are known as 

 "Capes." The sandy flats have a flora peculiarly their own and 

 where the soil is acid Heaths in endless variety crowd the land. 

 What native trees there are are relegated to the ravines and slopes 

 where they find protection from the winds. Forests are an infre- 

 quent feature of the landscape throughout the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Apart from the very cold regions of the globe, every country 

 can boast of a general miscellany of trees, shrubs and herbs note- 

 worthy for the beauty of their flowers. The Cape is no exception 

 and in addition possesses four well-marked types each of sufficient 

 merit to make the country remarkable. These four types — suc- 

 culent plants, bulbous, plants, Proteas and Heaths — dominate the 

 floral features of the Cape of Good Hope. Heaths, bulbous and 

 succulent plants are found in other parts of the earth though in 

 less variety but the florious Proteas are peculiarly South African. 

 Brilliant inflorescences are characteristic of the Cape flora and in 

 this respect the only region in the world with which fair compari- 

 sons can be made is West Australia. In both lands proteaceae, 

 a family of endless variety of forms, is a striking floristic feature. 

 What the genus Banksia is to West Australia that of Protea is to 

 South Africa, yet this genus is even less known in American gar- 

 dens than is Banksia. Proteas are common in the immediate vi- 

 cinity of Cape Town as well as throughout the whole of the 

 coastal plateau, a few species are found in the more elevated and 

 drier regions to the north. Some like Protea grandiflora are 



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