FLORA OF MOSSAMEDES DISTRICT 355 



which protrudes a leaf 5 to 6 feet long and of 

 leathery consistence, split into ribbons in the older 

 plants. From the black-lobed and flattened 

 centre, close to the insertion of the strap-like 

 leaves, arise a number of cymes a few inches high, 

 bearing cones which are the true flowers of this 

 plant. In the same region is found also the 

 strange-looking Nara (Acanthosicyos horrida), a 

 shrub 3 or 4 feet high which, through the multitude 

 of its branches, intercepts the shifting sand of the 

 desert till a mound is formed, above which a few 

 of the uppermost branches project, carrying no 

 leaves but a yellowish green flower. 



Between Mossamedes and the high plateau 

 above the Chellas, and along the third and most 

 southerly of the Angolan railways on which I 

 travelled, there is desert for the the first 30 to 

 40 miles, then a belt of scrub to the base of the 

 Chellas, where Mcerua angolensis, M. crassifolia, 

 the fruit-bearing bushes Oncoba spinosa, 0. Wel- 

 witschii (Chichi), Gymnosporia senegalensis, and 

 Heeria insignis occur. 



Farther inland there are baobabs, euphorbias 

 like the Cassoneira (E. Tirucalli) the leafless 

 Pachypodium Lealii, Sansevieria angolensis, 

 acacias, false cedars (Tamarix orientalis) (Cedro), 

 Copaifera Mopane (Mopane, Mutiati) ; still farther 

 inland, Erythrina huillensis (Mucandis), emerald- 

 green trees with vermilion flowers ; Cissus 

 pruriens, with its luscious red grapes covered with 

 stinging hairs, brightening the landscape ; Ximenia 

 americana (Ampegue), bearing an oily seed ; and 

 Peltophorum africanum, often taken for a mimosa. 



