502 
THE TROPICAL AQRIOULTURIST 
One cannot but wonder a little at the ignorance of tlie 
literature of African travel which this paragraph dis- 
plays. Men like Grant, Speke, Kirk, Wei witsoh, Mann, 
Vogel, Barter and Thomson to mention olIj a few ot 
those to whom we owe our ki.owledxe of the African 
flora, would have thought it comical to be described as 
" tendor-nuttured " botanists. The work of Schwein- 
furth was admirable ; yet no one would, I think, be 
more surprised than that dietingniBhed nuturalist, 
Mr. Bates, to learn that the botanical oolUctions 
which he never even professed to make, were ten times 
better. 
W. T, Thiselton-Dyek. 
Royal Gardens, Kow, 
" It is difficult to give an accurate idea of the flowers 
we saw in our march through Africa in a short m ga- 
zine article, but I here give a short sketch, mentioning 
some few things which I think may be interesting to 
my reader. 
The great forest of Central Africa throngh which 
we passed is not so rich in variety of flowers and orchids 
as the forests of Mexico and Brazil, or even the jangles 
of India and Ceylon. It is chiefly rich in flowering 
vines, trees, lilies(a) and Bigoniaa. There is, however, 
a great wealth of different kinds of ferns, such as I have 
often seen cultivated iu bot-housee in England. In many 
places the damp ground was covered by a thick growth 
of filmy ferns and Lycopodium of the most beautiful 
description. 
" Here is a short extract from my journal which will 
give some idea of the everyday-sighta we saw on the 
banks of the Lower Congo, 1,700 teet above the sea and 
250 miles distant from it : — 
" 'At the bottom of a piece ot swampy ground I came 
to a small stream, on the banks of which were growing 
Osmunda regalis{h), or Royal fern. It was slightly 
stunted in growth, being not more than 2 feet in 
height. It 13 the first I ever have yet seen in the tro- 
pics. Close by the stream was growing a group of 
beautiful ground orohids(c), in form like a Hyacinthus 
candicans. There were clusters ot great pink flowers 
with yellow centres ; the whole had a very gorgeous 
effect. Here, also, was a profusion of Lycopodium (ti). 
It is of a kind I have not yet seen ; it creeps up and 
over everything iu great bluegreen masses ; its long 
tendrils creep up the tree trunks like ivy, to a height, 
in some ca9e8, of 4feet. There were quantitiea, also, 
of the ribbon fern, exactly like the Davallia penta- 
phylla, (e) which has been introduced into English hot- 
houses from the Malayan Archipelago. What would 
not florists at home have given for an acre of this 
ground?' 
" In the forest there were two kinds of lilies whioh 
were common. One, which grew in swampy ground, 
was in form like an Amaryllis, (f) It was white, with 
a deep crimson centre, and had a delicious but heavy 
Boent. The other was a lily, (g) which grew every- 
where through the whole length of the forest. It was 
of a brilliant scarlet colour, and was formed of several 
hundreds of small flowers, forming a round ball like 
a huge Guelder rose, four inches in diameter. It 
was of such a brilliant scarlet that it looked almost 
metallic, growing in the darkest recesses of the 
forest. One of the commonest and most striking of 
all the ferns we saw was the Platycerium alcicorne. (h) 
It is an extremely interesting fern, one of a singular 
genua of epiphytal plants, growing on the branches of 
trees. Our Zanzibaris called it ' elephant ear,' from 
its curious shape. There was another of the same 
(a) Grinum. 
(b) Osmunda regalia ie cosmopolitan, but in tropical 
zo ne is high up only. 
c) Mr. llolfe cannot suggest anything better than 
Lissochilns. 
(d) Selaghiella scandens, no donbfc. 
(e) " Ribbon fern" would suggest Ophioglossmn 
pendulum or Yittaria, bat they are not like Davallia 
pentaphylla. 
(/) Crinum zeylanicum- 
((g) JJrunsvigia toxicaria. 
ill) I'latgceriuiii alcicorna is not Afrtoan, but P. 
9tmmii'i<x is widely spread. 
[January i, 1892- 
f&mily, Platycerium Stemviaria, vihich we found grow. i 
ing upon rooks in the open country. Both these feres : 
grew at altitudes from 1,000 to 5,000 feet. Tree-ftrne (j) 
of the ordinary kind we found growing in ell the gullies ! 
and steams on the slopes of the mountains above the 1 
Albert Kyanzi. The altitude was from 5,000 to 6,000 
feet above the level of the sea, and I noticed especially I 
that the flora here was remarkably like that in the Cen- 
tral Provir ce of Ceylon, which is an altitude of 2,500 
to 4,000 feat above the eea. : 
" By fiir the mott common plant which we saw in the i 
jungle was the Amomnm, or wild cardamom. (?) It was 
almost precisely the same in form ts the cardamom 
which is cultivated in Ceylon. It grew almost throueh- | 
out the whole ot Central Africa. It has a large purple 
flewer, which grows in clusters on the ground at the I 
root of the plant, and from it a bright scarlet fruit ' 
forms, of a pear shape, and about the size of a small 
fig; It is divided into tour quarters, and contaics some j 
white, fleshy pulp, very juicy and acid. This pulo is 
of small black aromatic tasting seeds like those of " the 
cultivated cardamom. If ever planters go into Africa, ' 
the cardamom will be an importont product of the soil ' 
for commerce, for there are vast tracts of forest with 
the climate, soil and cheoxerid shade whioh are neces- 
sary for the cultivation of the car Samom. Orchilla 
weed should also become a valuable article of commerce; 
it grows in many parts of the forest. I consider, how- j 
ever, that when the gteat forest ot Central Africa is 
opened up to civilization, by far the most valuable | 
Rrticle of commerce will be india-rubber, the want of ' 
which Is increasingly felt in the civilized world. Now ' 
that electricity is so much used for various purposes, 
the demand for india-rabber grows larger and larger : i 
the supply which is shut up in the African forest is 
practically unlimited. There are varioua trees of the 
fig tribe which yield this product, but by far the great- 
esti amount is contained in the india-rabber vines (/fc) j 
whch abound in the forest and hang from almost every 
tree. In cutting our way through the forest in some ! 
places, we got covered with the milky glutinuoas I 
sap, whioh dropped upon us from the vines we cut 
through. 
" The natives know its value, and use it largely for 
smearing the inside of their buckets in order to make 
them Sold water. They use it Urgely also for covering li 
the ends of their druuistioks. The india-rubber ob- f 
tained is of a clear, yellowish colour, like glue, and is i 
of the most elastic description. ; 
" In the forest region I siw no water lilies, but in j 
Emin Pasha's Province in the Bari country, I saw two j 
kinds. (0 They were both about the size of an ordi- ' 
nary white water-lily, and the leaves and flowers floated I 
on the surface of the water, but the stalks and forma- ; 
tion of the leaves and flowers was flner and more slander. j 
One was of a pink coral-like colour, not white like the '! 
Zanzibar lily, and the other of a pale bluish lavender. J 
They were growing in small clear pools only a few miles 'i 
apart in the valley of the Nile, at an altitude of about j 
3,000 feet above the sea. |j 
" One of the most interesting botanical discoveries I | 
made in the forest was the discovery of a wild orange \ 
tree. Daring our march through the forest I had con- ij 
tinnally come upon trees varying from 8 to 15 feet high. j 
They had double leaves of a peculiar shape, which had i| 
a delicious smell like orange leaves ; the branches were '| 
covered with long sharp thorns, and I at once pronoun- | 
ced them to.be orange trees. My fellow officers smiled : ( 
incredulously, and exclaimed : • Orange-trees (m) in the lil 
middle of the forest 1' Bat I held to my opinion, and I j 
(j) No doubt Cyathea Tkomsoni, Baker, whioh is very 
near C. Dregei of the Cape. 
(j) T; ere are a large number of Amomums in West 
Tropical Africa. The fruits are 3- not 4-celled. See A 
Baniellii, &c., in Oliver and Hanbary'a paper in Joarn- 
Liuu. Sue, vii. 109. 
(k) Landolphia. 
{I) Nymphcea ttellata and N. Lotus are both plentiful 
in Upper Nile-land. 
(■vt) This reads like a tree Citrus, end if so is an 
interesting discovery, aa no species is hitherto known 
here. 
