PREFACE 



" Nowhere on the Earth could the vegetation of a country be more attractive and yet 

 so easily accessible to the botanist as at the Cape. Here Nature spreads her 

 gifts in inexhaustible bounty and richness before his eyes as well as beneath his 



hands everything is within his reach ; reeds and rushes, bulbous herbs and 



flowers, shrublets and shrubs are there to delight him." 



Adalbert von Chamisso, Reise urn die Welt. 1 8 1 8. 



Thus sounded the poet, himself an accomplished 

 botanist, the praise of the Cape flora nearly one hundred 

 years ago, and many other authors have done so from 

 time to time in language not less eloquent. In spite of 

 this, no book hitherto issued can be regarded either as a 

 satisfactory introduction to the charms presented by this 

 flora, or as a sufficient guide to the student in his en- 

 deavours to find his way through the overwhelming mass 

 of forms that surround him on all sides. 



The idea of promoting the publication of a book 

 with coloured illustrations which would meet this want is 

 due to Lady Phillips. 



Realizing that the majority of her countrymen, as 

 well as the world at large, are unacquainted with the 

 beautiful vegetation of South Africa, she generously 

 provided the means necessary for the production of the 

 book, although it gradually assumed much larger pro- 

 portions than originally contemplated, and now includes 

 the whole flora of South Africa, illustrated by 180 coloured 

 and ioo monochrome plates, together with 300 figures in 

 the text. 



Lady Phillips attributes her interest in the subject to the 

 teachings of her father, the late Albert Frederick Ortlepp, 

 himself a keen naturalist and an ardent lover of his country. 



