THE 
NEW PJlYTOIiOGIST. 
Vol. V., Nos. I & 2. 
Jan. & Feb. 1906. 
SKETCHES OF VEGETATION AT HOME 
AND ABROAD. 
II.— Some Aspects of the Vegetation of South Africa. 
By F. E. Weiss, D.Sc. 
Part II.— Natal and The Transvaal. 
[Plates I. and II. and Text-Figs. 1—3.J 
HIDE the Cape Peninsula has a very marked winter rain¬ 
fall, we find as we pass eastward along the south coast 
of Africa, a gradual equalisation of summer and winter rainfalls. 
This more evenly distributed precipitation, amounting often to 
nearly thirty inches, has favoured a tree-like vegetation in many 
districts, and one of these forests covering a large area in the 
Knysna district yields a considerable amount of timber, largely 
the so-called yellow wood ( Podocarpus ), the stinkwood ( Ocotea) and 
the black ironwood (Olea laurifolia). 
Eastward of Port Elizabeth we come upon the region of 
predominating summer rains, and the flora here has a much more 
luxuriant aspect than in the South Western region, it is in fact 
merely an outlier of that of Tropical Africa. This East coast region 
including all the lower lying portions of Natal and the Eastern portion 
of Cape Colony, though very distinct from the South-Western 
coast region, goes over very gradually into the latter. It is 
characterised by the deficiency or absence of Proteaceae and 
Ericaceae so typical of the Cape Peninsula, while certain families 
characteristic of the tropics of Africa and India, such as the Myr- 
taceae, Rubiaceae and Asclepiadaceae begin to assume considerable 
proportions in the vegetation, On the other hand, some remnants 
