1953] 



VEGETATION OF NYAS ALAND 



175 



Mlosa Plateau was not visited by any of our party. It was much smaller than 

 the main upper plateau, but it seemed to carry more forest. 



Likubula Gorge. The timber depot which by courtesy of the Forestry Depart- 

 ment we used as a base camp was pleasantly situated in Brachystegia-Other- 

 Species woodland at an altitude of about 2,750 feet, where the Likubula River 

 debouched from the funnelled mouth of a tremendous gorge on the western side 

 of Mlanje Mountain. Below the depot, to the west, was the broad 2,100-foot Tuchila 

 Plain, lying between the mountain and the Shire Highlands. 3ehind it the mountain 

 rose in steep pediments topped by stark grey rock walls of great height. Close to 

 the north, Chambe Peak (8,289 ft.) of the mountain presented an almost per- 

 pendicular rock face of about 6,000 feet. Mammals were collected here between 

 June 19 and July 18, but only one day could be spent in botanizing. Including 

 some collections made by Mr. Vernay, 40 numbers of plants were taken in the 

 locality. 



The Likubula, rocky and swift, and containing deep pools between cascades 

 and bouldery stretches, had mossy banks shaded by lines of rain forest trees. Two 

 rheophytic small trees, Mascarenbasia variegata Britt. & Rendle and *Diospyros 

 16385, with horizontal branches, grew on floodswept edges of the stream. The 

 golden-yellow flowers of Bidens steppia (Steetz) Sherff made a conspicuous show- 

 ing on moist sandy banks. Notable among trees of the woodlands near the river 

 were big-leaved Uapaca kirkiana Muell. Arg., smaller-leaved U. nitida Muell. Arg., 

 Strychnos innocua Del. bearing edible round fruits the size of a small cannonball, 

 and Vernonia polyura O. Hoffm., of small-tree size and covered with a mass of 

 pale purple flowers that showed above the tall grass. 



Mlanje Mountain. Mlanje, highest mountain in Nyasaland, has received a good 

 deal of attention from geologists since deposits of bauxite were discovered upon 

 it in 1924, and the mountain has been described by Dixey (1927). Biological ex- 

 ploration of the upper levels appears to have begun on October 20, 1891, when 

 Alexander Whyte started a fortnight's collecting for plants and birds at altitudes 

 between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. Burkill (1897) listed a few high-altitude plants ob- 

 tained on Mlanje by J. McClounie. P. J. Green way collected about 125 numbers on 

 the mountain in 1941, A. P. T. Forbes about 165 numbers in 1942. The Vernay Ex- 

 pedition plant collections, made between June 21 and July 18, ran to 495 numbers 

 from elevations of 5,700-8,000 feet. 



The mountain consists of a massive block of syenite, about twelve miles by 

 twelve, rising precipitously from a flattish plain, and constricted at the middle 

 to form eastern and western lobes of approximately equal area. As seen 

 from the north and west, upthrust basal scarps end in a discontinuous though very 

 conspicuous line at about 6,000 feet, where they form the outer rim of a number of 

 platforms or uplands, of which there are several of various width and size on both 

 lobes of the mountain. On both lobes the massif culminates in a craggy main 

 ridge, rising behind the uplands. Crowning Mlanje Peak, 9,843 feet in altitude, is 

 situated on a narrow neck between the lobes of the mountain. Several other peaks, 

 on the main ridge and in peripheral positions, attain heights of 8,000 and 9,000 

 feet. To the north, a deep notch called Fort Lister Gap separates 6,500-foot 

 Mchesa Peak from the main mass of Mlanje. 



Tea is planted extensively at altitudes up to about 3,500 feet on the south 

 and southwestern foothill slopes. The upper parts of the mountain have been made 

 a forest reserve for the preservation, controlled cutting, and planting of Widdring- 

 tonia whytei (Mlanje cypress or cedar), a valuable timber tree found only on 

 Mlanje and on Chirinda Mountain in Southern Rhodesia. The logs are pit-sawn 

 in the forests and the lumber carried down steep paths to Likubula, and an- 



