including a number of ferns, among which is Lygodium scandens. 

 Unfortunately, no floristic work was possible, and consequently no 

 account can be given of the species which occur. In the heart of this 

 forest we made the interesting discovery of a species of Raphia, 

 probably near, but not identical with R. vinifera (vide notes on 

 Raphia in the appended list of plants collected). 



(6) Strand Vegetation. At the most northerly point "of our 

 journey we touched the seacoast. Here the vegetation is no different 

 from that found farther south, illustrating the principle that strand 

 plants are widely distributed. On the belt of shifting sand between 

 the sea and the sand-dunes (here about 50 feet high), we observed 

 Scaevola lobelia and Ipomoea biloba (I. pes-caprae), with 

 Mesembryanthemum edule straggling from here right up into the 

 . psamniophilous bush, which clothed the sand-dunes.- In this bush 

 the dominant tree was Mimusops caffra, while farther back Strelitzia 

 augu.ita was dominant. Osteospermum moniliferum was present, 

 also Aloe thraskii, in considerable numbers. Just back of the sand- 

 dune bush we found a few specimens of Encephalartos, and plants of 

 the c ame species occurred within the bush itself, one of them bearing 

 two fine brilliant red female cones. Asystasia corojnandeliana was 

 very common as an associated plant, while the fern Polypodium 

 phymatodes was present in abundance. 



Along the seashore we observed fruits of Barrmgtonia racemosa 

 and Entada scandens, which had been washed up by the waves, and 

 at one place Sporobolus pungens growing on some rocks. Several 

 Algae were collected here, and a large number more from rocks near 

 Lake St. Lucia, which one of us afterwards visited, and where the 

 shore vegetation is essentially similar to that already described. 



IV. LIST or PLANTS COLLECTED. 



In the following list of plants collected there are some thirteen 

 or fourteen species (asterisked) whicn nave not been previously 

 recorded (in Medley Wood's Revised Lists) for Natal and Zululand. 

 In one or two cases the determination of the species is doubtful, and 

 the number may perhaps be reduced to twelve. Of the species thus 

 recorded for the first time, five are recorded for the Cape in the 

 " Flora Capensis," and are probably identical with undetermined 

 species given in Wood's lists. 



Forty-four per cent. (38 out of 87) of the total number of species 

 {excluding the Algae) recorded occur also in tropical Africa, which 

 bears out the conclusion arrived at by Prof. Bews in a recent paper 

 that the Natal coast-belt is distinctly sub-tropical in its affinities. 

 In this connection our record of Raphia, Afzelia, Cajanus, and 

 Terminalia genera new to Natal, but common in the tropics is very 

 interesting. 



Another point that suggests itself is the connection between the 

 flora of the Natal coast-belt and the flora of the northern Transvaal. 

 That this connection exists is well known, and also that the connec- 

 tion is not by way of the Natal midlands, but probably eastward from 

 ihe northern Transvaal and down into Natal along the border of 

 Portuguese territory. Our trip took us some distance along this " line 

 of invasion," and we met with Dombeya pulchra, Iboza galpini, and 

 the well-known Terminalia sericea all species which are not known 

 in Natal proper, but which are common enough in the Transvaal. It 



