99 



towards the south aiul centre ; and towards the north with 

 Hyphaene ventricosa, Copaifera mopane, and other tropical 

 species becoming denser and passing into open forest. 



The grasses in the southern portion of this area show that 



the veld is closely connected with that of the Central and 

 Eastern regions. The chief species are: Anthistiria imberbis, 

 Andropogon contortus, A. isehaemum var. radicans, Eragrostis 



•curvula, E. atherstonei, E. chloromelas, E. lehmanniana, 

 Trichopterix flavida, Aristida stipoides var. meridionalis , with 



liere and there apparently an admixture of the species named 



in the previous section. 



D. The Northern Portions are, however, so much more 

 tropical, and include so many new species, that they must 

 certainly be considered to form a distinct region altogether. 

 The tribe Paniceae becomes very abundant, and though the 

 genus Aristida is still well represented the species are different. 

 The following are the species for Amboland, recorded by 

 Schinz : Andropogon eontortus, A. gayanus var. cordofanus, 

 A. isehaemum var. radicans, A. nardus var. marginatus, A. 

 schinzii, Perotis lati folia, P. vaginata , Tragus berteroanus, 

 Panicum brachyurum , P. colonum, P. laevifoliwm var. 

 amboense, P. nigropedatum , P. rautanenii, P. sagittae folium, 

 P. trichopus, P. xantholeucum, Tricholaena rosea, Setaria 

 ■appendieulata, S. vertieiUata, Pennisetum myurus, P. spiea- 

 tinn, Aristida cdopeeuroides, A. gracillima, A. prodigiosa, 

 A. stipitata, A. stipoides var. meridionalis, A. uniplumis, 

 Cynodon daetylon, Willkommia annua, W. sarmentosa, 

 Chloris barbata, Dactyl octeniuw aegyptiacum var. mucrona- 

 tum, Pogonarthria squarrosa, Schmidtia pappopli oroides, S. 

 quinqueseta, Trirapliis fleclxii, T. schinzii, Elytrophorus 

 cjlobularis, Micrachloa caffra, Diplachne fusca, Eragrostis 

 curvula, E. dinteri, E. lappula var. divaricata, E. lepto- 

 calymma, E. membranacea, E. superba, E. viseosa. 



It is clear that the Western region is by no means of a 

 uniform ecological (climatic) type. A great portion of it is 

 desert, but there are transitions to a comparatively mesophytic 

 flora in the north. In the south, there are great sandy areas, 

 which as the rainfall increases eastward, pass into the Sand 

 Veld grassland of the Kalahari. Such sandy tracts are, how- 

 ever, interrupted by areas of so-called hard veld with a stony- 

 surface occupied by a Karroo flora. Patches of Karroo occur 

 even north of the Orange River, and the boundaries of that 

 region as laid down by Bolus cannot be maintained, in fact, 



