Ill 



factors of temperature, light and moisture all differ. The 

 Grassveld of the coast belt, especially towards the north in 

 Natal and Zululand, is also under different climatic conditions, 

 owing to t|ie relatively high temperatures and absence of 

 frosts. Trof)ical species are common, and there are a great 

 many {e.g., species oi Fanivuiii), which do not occur elsewhere 

 in South Africa. The coast grassland should, however, per- 

 haps not ranks as a formation, for I doubt whether any of 

 it possesses the necessary degree of stability. The climax 

 type for the whole belt seems to be Bush, and the Grassveld, 

 if left alone rapidly progresses into Bush. As a matter of 

 fact, much of the High Veld is also transitional to Bush or 

 Forest. 



It would be impossible, within the liiait of the jiresent 

 work, to deal in detail with all the different varieties of 

 Grassveld in the Eastern region, even if all the facts were 

 known. What is to be aimed at, is the analysis of the more 

 important types of succession. These have been studied and 

 tested fairly thoroughh^ over the whole of Natal, and to a 

 certain extent over parts of the Free State and the Transvaal, 

 butjof course, a tremendous amount of work remains to be 

 done. Many districts, e.g., the whole of Pondoland and most 

 of Zululand, are difficult of access, and remain, to a large 

 extent, unexplored. 



The successional relationships of the grasslands to other 

 types of vegetation are as important as the various seres in the 

 grassland itself. The most impoi'tant among the former are 

 the transitions to Forest, which are seen in many parts of the 

 High Veld and Coast Veld of Natal, and Eastern Cape Colony, 

 and the transition to Thorny Scrub through various stages of 

 open Thorn Veld, a detailed account of which I have given 

 in the paper already referred to. 



In the following description of Eastern Grassveld, a 

 general account of the xerosere will first of all be given , which 

 will conclude with a description of climax types and aspect 

 societies and the transition to Forest. Afterwards the hydro- 

 sere and various sub-seres will be dealt with. The mountain 

 grasses of the Drakensberg. and Mountain or Tussock grassland 

 as well as the coast belt of Natal will be considered separately. 



The Xeeosere. 



The early stages can only be dealt with very briefly. 

 They vary greatly in different localities, and any of the types 



