554 BOTANICAL EXCURSIONS 
the only tree of any considerable size that appears to be in- 
digenous to the Cape Peninsula. It grows to the height of 
thirty or forty feet, with rather upright branches, and is ren- 
dered strikingly conspicuous by the very brilliant white silky 
covering of its leaves, which look really like plates of silver, 
and have a remarkably beautiful appearance when shaken by 
the wind.. These leaves are spear-shaped, and cover the 
branches very thickly ; the bark of the stem is smooth, grey- 
ish, and of an extremely astringent quality (note E) ; the wood 
soft and brittle, and of no known use except as fuel, for 
which purpose it is in great request. 
It is curious that this tree, so common in the neighbour- 
hood of the town, is, as it appears, entirely confined to the 
Cape Peninsula, not occurring on even the nearest moun- 
tains of the main land. This is not, however, altogether a 
singular fact, for many of the Cape plants are equally, or 
even more réstricted in their locality. The Silver-tree forms 
a kind of belt along the northern and eastern faces of the 
Devil’s and Table Mountains, and below the peak of the 
Lion’s Head; but it is t not common on the mountains near 
False Bay. 
Another very abundant species of the same tribe, and the 
only one which was in flower at-the time of my arrival, is 
known by the name of the Kreupelboom.* It is a large bush, 
eight or ten feet high, with greyish leaves and tawny-yellow 
flowers, and forms a dwarf forest along the foot of the 
Devis Mountain. 
On the whole, the vegetation of the immediate SE 
hood of Cape Town put me somewhat in mind of that of 
Provence and the Genoese coast; I mean in its general 
aspect, for the tribes and genera of plants are by no means 
the same. 
Not long after our arrival at the Cape, I visited, in com- 
pany with my friend, Mr. Harvey, the sandy isthmus already 
mentioned under the name of the “ Flats," and was delighted 
* Leucospermum conocarpum. 
