GEOGRAPHICAL BOTANY. 387 



same appears to be the case with the two following 

 months, which Krauss did not spend in Natal ; July and 

 August are fine, the days hot (as high as 31), but cool 

 in the morning and evening ; the thermometer, however, 

 seldom falling so low as 15 c. A changeable, windy, 

 and disagreeable period begins in September the pre- 

 cursor "of the rain. From these statements, the course of 

 the seasons is the same as in the East Indies, except that 

 the rainy season of three months occurs during the spring 

 in the southern hemisphere, i. e. three months later than 

 in the former. 



Sketch of the predominating botanical formations : 



1. Coast or forest region. 



a. Forests of Rhizophoreae in the mud between the 

 ebb and flow of the tide (Mengerhout of the colonists). 

 Brugmem Gymnorrhiza } Rkizophora mucronata, Avicennia 

 tomentosa. 



b. Dense, tropical, mixed forests, which can only be 

 traversed by the paths formed by the elephants and 

 buffaloes. Among the trees several belong to the new 

 genera published by Hochstetter, with Ficus, Tabernce- 

 montana, Zygia, Milletia, Phoenix reclinata, &c. Under- 

 wood, Lianes, and the other components of tropical forests 

 are copiously developed. 



c. Grass plains with various shrubs. Musa. 



2. Hilly region, with beautiful pasture land, consti- 

 tuting the flower of the colony. The woods consist of 

 Acacias. The Aloe and tall-stemmed Euphorbias re- 

 semble those in Karro. The highly nutritious grass, 

 which consists principally of Andropogineae, contains nu- 

 merous shrubs, especially tropical forms of Leguminosae, 

 Scrophulariaceae, Labiatae, Acanthaceae, and GnidiaKraus- 

 siana. 



3. Mountainous region. The above-mentioned exten- 

 sive grass plains are succeeded upwards by a woody belt 

 of Podocarpus, with numerous Ferns, and above this 

 mountain-meadows of Cyperaceae, with Orchidaceae, Ixia, 

 Hypoxis, and Watsoma, are distributed. The largest 



