South African Forestry 607 



minimum of 26° F. to a maximum of 112° F, Here are fovmd 

 thousands of square miles of brushwood 2 to 8 feet high. Forests 

 occur chiefly, nearly always in small areas, in the moist deep 

 ravines and valleys facing the sea. 



The most important areas, now under permanent administra- 

 tion run to a few thousand acres each, grouped chiefly in a dis- 

 trict 110 miles long and 10 miles wide. Wild elephants are still 

 found in these forests. 



The extremely mixed character of the stand and the prob- 

 lems it presents to the forester are indicated by the genera enter- 

 ing the forest composition in this type : The first and most impor- 

 tant is Podocarpus, others are Scolopia, Doryalis, Kiggelaria, 

 Vepris, Ekebergia, Apodytes, Ilex, Gymnosporia, Cassine, Pteroc- 

 elastrus, Elaeodendron, Scutia, Ptaeroxylon, Rhus, Virgilia, 

 Cunonia, Olivia, Cussonia, Canthium, Curtisia, BurchelUa, Rap- 

 anea, Sideroxylon, Olea, Nuxia, Chilianthus, Ocotea and Celtis. 



3. South-east. This coastal belt, marked by simimer rains ex- 

 tends, 50 to 100 miles wide northward from Port Elizabeth to 

 Portuguese territory, widening as it goes northward, and reaching 

 from the Indian ocean inland to an elevation of about 3500 feet. 



The inland westerly boundary of this region is marked by a north 

 and south mountain range, behind which Hes the great continen- 

 tal plateau. The drop from this range to the sea, comprising the 

 type under discussion is neither even nor gradual; the country 

 is very rolling, broken by ridges paralleling the main mountain 

 sjTstem, greatly diversified and deeply cut into valleys. The rain- 

 fall averages 40 inches near the coast, 20 inches inland. Two- 

 thirds of the precipation falls in the summer months. The tem- 

 peratiu*e varies from a minimtmi of 21° F. inland, where frost 

 occurs only above 1300 feet elevation, and a minimimi of 40° F, 

 at the coast, to a maximimi of 1 10° F. The whole type consists of 

 grassland, savannah and woodland intermingled. The small for- 

 est areas, which were originally much larger, amounting now to a 

 total of about 300,000 acres, are found near the coast and include 

 the following genera: Podocarpus, Vepris, Olea, Apodytes, 

 Olivia, Scolopia, Mimusops, Sideroxylon, Ekebergia and Ocotea. 



4. Karroo. This is the desert bed of an ancient lake, 50 to 75 

 miles wide from south to north, extending east and west 300 miles, 

 lying 1800 to 2500 feet above sea level, and surrounded by moun- 

 tain barriers which reach in the north a height of 4.000 to 8,000 

 feet. 



