68 THE WORLD OF LIFE 



The only other tropical flora in the eastern hemisphere in- 

 cluded in my table is that of Queensland, which is mostly 

 within the tropics, but a large part of the interior consists of 

 elevated plains with a rather arid climate where little of the 

 luxuriance of tropical vegetation is to be met with. Probably 

 not more than one-fourth of the area is clothed with a typical 

 tropical vegetation, but this has as yet been very partially 

 explored botanically. The number of species compares best 

 with that of the Indian peninsula, with wdiich it agrees nearest 

 in area ; and both these countries, though very rich in certain 

 districts, cannot be considered to present examples of the full 

 luxuriance of tropical vegetation. 



Floras of Tropical Africa and America 



The floras of the remainder of the tropics are, for various 

 reasons, of less interest for the purposes of this work than 

 those of the eastern hemisphere, and a very brief reference to 

 them wdll be here given. Although Africa has a tropical area 

 nearly equalling those of Asia and America combined, it has a 

 flora of less extent and of less botanical interest than that 

 of either of them. Its area of luxuriant tropical forest is 

 comparatively of small extent, and much of it is yet unex- 

 plored, so that the number of species in the latest enumeration 

 is perhaps more than might have been expected. The islands 

 belonging to Africa — ■ Madagascar, Mauritius, Bourbon, and 

 the Seychelles — are, however, of extreme interest, on account 

 of the remarkable character, as well as the extreme speciality, 

 both of their plants and animals. As, however, these pecul- 

 iarities have been rather fully discussed in chapter xix. of my 

 Island Life, it is not necessary to repeat them here. I may 

 state, however, that in Mauritius there are about 40 peculiar 

 genera, nearly all of shrubs or trees, while no less than 5 

 peculiar genera of palms are found in the Seychelle Islands. 

 The following table of tlie sequence of orders in Madagascar 

 may be of interest for comparison with those of other large 

 floras. 



