Oecological Notes on the District of Mamtbie, Transkei. 
39 
difficult or impossible. Thus the ground is permanently occupied by the 
first species which arrive and germinate ; the majority of these are herba- 
ceous, a few trees. The artificial character of the grassland is emphasised, 
by the presence of certain introduced plants, e. g. species of Cassia ; in the 
woodland aliens are practically absent. 
Woodland. 
The great majority of the species, both in the tree layer and in the 
undergrowth, are dicotyledons. The trees grow in close canopy, but a good 
deal of light gets through, except in certain particularly sheltered spots, and' 
this gives the requsite conditions for a dense undergrowth of bushes and 
lianes, while there is also a herbaceous ground vegetation and a fair 
number of epiphytes. Progress in the forest is often difficult owing to 
the thick and tangled undergrowth and the abundance of a trailing grass, 
Potamophila prehensilis, Benth., which cuts with a touch of its razor-like 
leaf. 
A characteristic tree of the woodland association is Erythroxylon pictum, 
E.M., the " Camphor Wood," an evergreen with oval, glabrous, leathery, 
sclerophyllous foliage. Typical shrubs occurring in the high forest are 
Trichocladus crinitus, Pers., a Hamamelidaceous plant, covered on the stem 
and on the under side of the large ovate leaves with dense velvety brown 
hairs, the upper leaf -surf ace being glabrous ; and Hibiscus pedunctdatus, 
Linn, f., which is densely covered with long, closely appressed, simple and 
stellate hairs, especially on the calyx and epicalyx, and which also occurs in 
a wide variety of positions in this area. Along the forest edge occur a 
number of species not found in the depths of the forest, or in the grassland. 
Such are Ahutilon cordifolia, Linn., with finely felted leaves. Asparagus 
falcatus, Linn. (Liliaceae) with its long, linear, somewhat falcate, shining, 
glabrous cladodes, easily mistaken for eaves of Podocarpus elongata, 
L'Her. ; Helinus ovatus, E.M. (Ehamnacese), a glabrous thin-leaved shrub; 
and a Euphorbiaceous liane, Dalecliampia capensis^ Spr., with large leaves 
and scanty hairs. The ground flora consists largely of Potamophila prehen- 
silis, which also trails over bushes and the lower branches of trees to a 
height of several feet. 
In deep, moist, sheltered glades in the forest occur the low, glabrous, 
creeping Selaginella Kraussiana, A. Br., N ephr odium molle, Desv., Asplenium 
rutaefolium, Kuntze (epiphytic), a species of Hypoxis (Amaryllidaceae) 
which is believed to be undescribed, and other hygrophilous and shade- 
loving Pteridophytes and Phanerogams. Among interesting plants occur- 
ring in the forest, though not in very great numbers, are Podocarpus 
elo7igata, L'Her., and P. Thunbergii, Hook., Stangeria paradoxa, T. Moore, 
and Encephalartos villosus, Lem. 
