11 



the surface. A drop of even a few feet results in the formation of 

 vleis and bogs, which are numerous, especially toward the coast : 

 these are more extensive in summer than in winter, when they 

 frequently dry up almost completely. Sluggish streams, which often 

 fail to find their way to the sea, are also frequent, and along them 

 develops a typical hygrophilous bush. 



Typically, the vegetation of the sand veld consists of grassland 

 [Aristida (?) dominant not Anthistiria there are bare patches of 

 sand between the tufts of grass] dotted over with the " ilala " palm. 

 Hyphaene crinita. The latter grows in little clumps of four or five, 

 the clumps being separated from each other by fairly regular intervals 

 of from five to six yards (see photo). In many parts of this ilala 

 veld there are no other tree forms to be met with whereas in other 

 parts a number of trees may be scattered through the veld at distances 

 of from twenty to a hundred yards from each other. These (named 

 roughly in order of relative abundance) are: Strychnos sp. 

 (small tree), Strychnos spinosum, S. geradi, Eugenia cordata, 

 Terminalia sericea, Sclerocarya caffra, Euphorbia sp. [ingens (?)]. 

 Apodytes dimidiata, Podocarpus latifolia, Trichilia emetica, while 

 towards the coast Phoenix reclinata and Strelitzia augusta become 

 very common, growing in large clumps. All these species migrate 

 into the ilala veld from the bush growing near water-courses ; they 

 grow up in the shade of the ilala palms, which they subsequently 

 kill by shading them : Hyphaene demands intense sunlight. It seems 

 at first sight somewhat remarkable that a tree like Eugenia cordata 

 should be growing several miles away from the nearest water, but it 

 must be remembered that water can be obtained at no very great 

 depth by the roots, even in mid-winter. The critical period in the 

 establishment of such a tree must be at the time when the root system 

 has not yet reached the subterranean water-level, and the sapling 

 depends solely on surface water, which in a sandy soil can never be 

 great in amount. This fact, coupled with the prevalence of veld fires 

 which destroy such saplings, probably accounts for the comparative 

 scarcity of trees in a country where trees, once established, can always 

 obtain water, and are green even in mid-winter and amid such arid 

 surroundings. 



In addition to these plants, which depend on this hidden water- 

 supply, there must in spring-time, when the surface soil is moistened, 

 be a vast herbaceous flora which probably would contain many 

 novelties; for wherever one digs into the sand, one finds a mass of 

 bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes, and such-like storage organs. Even 

 in winter-time, quite a number of such plants were in flower (several 

 in a dried-up vlei), the list being as follows: Juncus sp.. 

 Hebenstreitia comosa, Lissochilus clitellifer. Hypoxis villosa. 

 Jatropha sp., Gymnosporia sp., Eugenia albanensis, Scilla sp.. 

 Lobelia tomentosa, 

 Gazania Longiscapa, 

 Gerbera ambigua, 

 nppositifolifj var., Othonna carnosa. var. discoidea, Anoiganthus 

 bremfoliu.t , Cyrtanthus sp. [galpini (?)], Gladiolus papiUo, Dianthu* 

 sp.. Helichrysum parviflorum (very common in places). 



The boundary line between the thorn veld and this ilala veld, 

 which runs from north to south, is not very sharp, and indeed 

 Hyphaene often extends into the thorn veld, but only where it is 

 fairly open. 



