CHAPTER XV 



THE FLORA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA^ 



" Even in thy desert, what is hke to thee? 

 Thy very weeds are beautiful." — Byron. 



In Chap. XIII. reference has been made to the interest of the 

 Alpine flora of Equatorial Africa, in its bearing on the problems 

 of plant distribution, and the past climatic history of that 

 region. The floras of the coast -lands and of the interior 



^ Note on the Literature. — As the exploration of Eastern Equatorial Africa began in 

 districts which are now included in the German sphere, the knowledge of the botany 

 of British East Africa has lagged far behind that of the regions to the south. 



The three first important collections were made by Grant (1860-63) in the Victoria 

 Nyanza basin ; by von der Decken in 1859-61 (described by Ascherson in 1879) in the 

 coast regions and the Tana delta; and by Hildebrandt (in 1B78) in the Taita Mts. 

 and Ukamba. The next additions were made in the Rift Valley and on its adjacent 

 plateaux by Fischer (1882-83) ^"d Thomson (1883-84). The collections of the latter were 

 described by Sir J. D. Hooker in a remarkable paper, in which, from comparatively 

 limited data, he drew conclusions as to the affinities of the flora, which have been con- 

 firmed by all later work. Extensive additions to the flora of the Rift Valley and Laikipia 

 were made by Teleki and von Hohnel in 1887-88 (described by Schweinfurth, C. Miiller, 

 J. Miiller, and Stephani). Important collections from the great central basin have been 

 made by Stuhlmann (1890-91), Baumann (1891-93), and Scott-Elliot (1894) ; the small 

 but instructive collection made by Stairs in 1889 may also be mentioned. Rev. W. E. 

 Taylor has added greatly to the knowledge of the plants of Mombasa Island and Giriama. 

 South of the Anglo-German frontier much more work has been done. .Sir John Kirk 

 early collected in Zanzibar and in adjoining parts of the mainland. Decken, New, 

 Thomson, etc., made small collections from Kilima Njaro, from which adequate collec- 

 tions were first made by H. H. Johnston in 1884 (List by Oliver and Baker, 1886). 

 Since the country passed into the possession of Germany, our knowledge of its flora has 

 made vast strides by a number of botanists organised by Engler. His Ueber die Hochge- 

 birgsflora des tropischen Afrika 1893 (1894), and Ueber die Gliederung der Vegetation von 

 Usambara und der a?igrensenden Gebicte 1894 (1895) ; the Die Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas 

 iind der Nachbargebiete 1895, and the series of papers in Engler's Botanische Jahrbiicher, 

 " Beitrage zur Flora von Afrika" (Pts. i.-xi., 1891-95), are unquestionably the most 

 thorough and scientific works yet carried out in Equatorial Africa. For the floras of 

 Abyssinia and British Central Africa, which help to link the Alpine flora of Kenya with 

 those to the north and south, reference may be made to the great monograph of Richard 

 (1847) for the former, and the memoir by Britten, Baker, and Rendle on the flora of 

 Milanji (1894). 



