Regional Distribution of the Cajpe Flora. 249 



from every tree in graceful convoluted folds, are covered 

 with bright green moss. Sometimes one can see the bright 

 red flowers of Mijstacidium or other orchids spreading over a 

 moss-covered branch. There is a dense undergrowth, chiefly 

 of Fleet rantJius fruticosus, covered all over with its beautiful 

 blue flowers, while other white species of Flectranthus and the 

 Cape Balsam grow everywhere. The moss-covered boulders 

 beside the streams are covered with the long leaves and 

 graceful nodding flowers of Streptocarpus Bexice. The com- 

 plete silence, broken only by the harsh notes of that beautiful 

 bird the loory, or the hoarse cry of the baboon, also contribute 

 to the impressive nature of the scene. 



Some of the trees grow to a huge size — Fodocarpns elon- 

 gatus especially ; one specimen, the " Eastern monarch," in 

 the Amatola Mountains, being 90 feet in height and 34 feet in 

 girth. Foeloearjnis latifolius, Olea laurifolia, Curtisia faginea, 

 and others also grow to 70 or 80 feet. 



A remarkable point about the forests is the number of 

 evergreens. Mr D. E. Hutchins, the Head Conservator, in- 

 formed me that only a very few are deciduous, and of these 

 the Sneezewood, Fteroxylon utile, and Hijjpohivinus alatus, 

 Crltis rliamnifolia, Erythrina Kaffra, and Elms laevigata, lose 

 their leaves only on cold, exposed situations, in other places 

 being always green. 



Some of these trees give a timber which is as good or 

 better than any other known, e.g. Sneezewood {Fteroxylon %dile), 

 Olea verrucosa, and Oreodaplme hullata. Most of the eastern 

 district consists either of forest, or scrubby dense bush, 10 to 

 12 feet high (such as the Addobuscli), mainly composed of 

 Fortulacaria afra and Schotia latifolia, or of wide grassy plains 

 very valuable for agricultural purposes. 



It is almost hopeless to give a satisfactory account of the 

 Cape Flora, however, in such a paper as this. It is, in fact, not 

 nearly well enough studied. Many places, notably Swaziland 

 and the Waterberg, are not yet touched by collectors. In 

 the work to which I gave most of my time, viz. observation of 

 the fertihsation of flowers, I have found so little written that 

 practically everything had to be begun from the beginning. 



For that most interesting branch of botany which includes 

 a study of the influence of physical conditions on the form 

 of plant produced, there could not possibly be a better field. 



