FLORA OF EAST AND MIDDLE AFRICA 45 



drainage. It Is continued westward along the shore of the 

 Victoria Nyanza around the west shore of the lake to Buddu 

 and thence west to Ruwenzori and the Albert Nyanza. 



The conifers and olives of the East African highlands 

 are lacking in these lower altitudes, where the trees are 

 chiefly Sapotacecs, MeliacecSj and other tropical orders. 

 The forests are often composed of gigantic trees which grow 

 in dense clusters, but in great variety of species. On the 

 edge of the forest the brilliant red flowers of the Spathodea 

 tree are often found associated with a fringing growth of 

 red-berried sumac-like Haronga trees. In open spaces in 

 the forest, fields of the wild banana, Musa ensete, occur. 



The highland forest covers much of the high plateau 

 region between the altitudes of six thousand and ten thou- 

 sand feet. In British East Africa it extends roughly from 

 Mount Kenia westward and southward to the Aberdare 

 Range and the Kikuyu Escarpment above Nairobi, where it 

 reaches its southern point. In the vicinity of Lakes Nai- 

 vasha and Elmentaita it straggles across the Rift Valley 

 to the great Mau forest. On the Mau Plateau the forest 

 extends nearly unbroken from the German border north- 

 ward to the latitude of Mount Elgon. The Elgon forest 

 in its lower levels is connected with the Mau by way of 

 the 'Nzoia River drainage. From the Mau crest the forest 

 continues down the west face of the Nandi Escarpment, 

 where it is continuous with the Kakumega forest, one of 

 the tongues of the Uganda forest, which in its turn is con- 

 tinuous with the Congo forests in the Semliki Valley. The 

 Kakumega and Uganda forests are, however, lowland and 

 quite different in character from the highland forests, but 

 the continuity of the whole area of tree growth has allowed 



