CHAP. LXXX TRUE SAVANNAH 299 



Other Tropical Savannahs. 



In the savannahs of northern Australia and New Caledonia species 

 of Eucalyptus play a prominent part. 



B. SUBTROPICAL SAVANNAH 



Savannah in Cape Colony. 



In Kaffraria, according to Thode, 1 savannahs very similar to those 

 in South America occur in districts where the rain falls in summer and 

 there is a marked dry season ; but they are probably evergreen and thus 

 differ from true tropical savannah. In such places, and particularly on 

 craggy, stony country, some of the remarkable South African succulent 

 plants occur, and include Euphorbia tetragona, which attains a height 

 of several metres, as well as species of Aloe and Senecio ; in addition, 

 bulbous plants are present. Grasses, belonging to the genera Danthonia, 

 Panicum, and Eragrostis, form the main mass of the vegetation, and are 

 available as fodder for cattle throughout the year. Between the grasses 

 grow numbers of perennial herbs and undershrubs. * This varicoloured 

 carpet of flowers, in which yellow and white tints preponderate, gives to 

 the physiognomy a gay appearance which recalls the North American 

 prairie, and is lacking for only a few weeks of the dry season.' 2 At spring- 

 time, as in steppe and desert, bulbous plants and orchids prevail ; during 

 summer, Asclepiadaceae, Scrophulariaceae, and Gnaphalieae ; later on 

 Malvaceae and Oxalidaceae appear ; while at all times Leguminosae and 

 Compositae are to be found. Scattered over this carpet, as in South 

 America, either singly or in groups, are woody plants, which are mainly 

 species of Acacia ; among these Acacia horrida, the Karroo-thorn, is 

 especially noticeable ; ' Whichever way the traveller may turn, his eye 

 encounters the finely divided pinnate foliage of acacias.' 2 



Other Subtropical Savannahs. 



Not only in the southern Kalahari, but also in subtropical Australia 

 and in the north of Argentina (in the Gran Chaco) does true savannah 

 occur with tall grasses, which give rise to tufts but not to a continuous 

 covering. 



CHAPTER LXXXI. SAVANNAH-FOREST 



IN favoured spots savannah-trees congregate more closely, other trees 

 become added to them, and savannah passes over into forest, as we 

 have already noted in the case of the Brazilian campos serrados. Such 

 forest, the ' savannah-forest ' of Schimper, is also known as bush-forest. 

 It is as a rule of medium height, thin, and casting but little shade. The 

 ground is richly clothed with grass and perennial herbs. The trees are 

 leafless in the dry season. Vast stretches of country in Africa are covered 

 with savannah-forest of this kind. 3 The jungles of India also seem to 



1 Thode, 1890. * Thode, loc. cit. ; Weiss, 1906. 



* Engler, 1895 5 Schweinfurth und Diels, op. cit; Pechuel-Loesche, 1882. 



