THE SUB-TROPICAL ZONE. 177 



( Usnea florida) that droop in profusion from the boughs, 

 bestow on the trees a venerable appearance, which in some 

 degree compensates for their small size." Near Graham's 

 Town " the bristling Aloe" gives a character of its own to 

 the landscape, and " the tall chandelier Euphorbia (Euphorbia 

 grandidens] often grows to a height of thirty or forty feet " 

 here too grows that curious plant " the Spek-boom (Portu- 

 lacaria Afra], with its fleshy nutritious leaves, spongy stems, 

 and pink blossoms, the favourite food of the elephant."* 



The difference in the general character of African vegeta- 

 tion from that which we saw in South America has already 

 been mentioned ; the very same thing strikes us again when 

 we reach Australia. The Australian, the South African, 

 and the South American parts of this zone all differ from 

 each other j and the character of the Southern Sub-tropical 

 Zone shows little similarity to the Northern ; but in South 

 America there is a degree of resemblance to the southern 

 part of Europe, which lies, it will be remembered, in the 

 Warmer Temperate Zone. Such, at least, is the view given 

 in Meyen's ' Botanical Geography/ 



In that part of Australia included in this zone the pre- 

 vailing trees are still the curious Proleas, the Gum-tree 



* From 'Life in the Wilderness/ by thetRev. H. Methuen. 



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