THE 
HEW PHYTOhOGIST. 
Vol. 4. No. 9. 
December 2 ist, 1905 . 
SKETCHES OF VEGETATION AT HOME 
AND ABROAD. 
II.— Some Aspects of the Vegetation of South Africa. 
By F. E. Weiss, D.Sc. 
Part I. —The Flora of the Cape Peninsula. 
It lias been suggested to me by tbe Editor that an account of the more 
striking features of tbe vegetation of South Africa, as they presented themselves 
to members of the British Association during their recent visit to the South 
African Colonies might be of interest to the readers of the New Phytologist. 
I propose therefore in the present article to deal with some aspects of the flora 
of the Cape Peninsula, which may in some degree be taken as typical of the 
South Western Coast, a botanical region very clearly differentiated from the 
Eastern Coast region. A description of the vegetation of the latter and of the 
central high plateau of South Africa will follow in a subsequent issue. 
r \he Cape Peninsula is the most thoroughly explored and at the 
same time botanically the richest portion of the South Western 
Coast region. Comprising an area of 197 square miles or about 
a quarter larger than the Isle of Wight, it contains 2100 species of 
native flowering plants or considerably more than the whole of the 
British Isles. This richness is no doubt in part due to the great 
range in climatic conditions offered by the mountainous headland 
and the low-lying Flats. The temperature, it is true, owing to the 
proximity of the sea, shows few extremes and these are of short 
duration. It fluctuates mainly from a winter average of 54"F 
(12" 5 C) to 68"F (20"C) for the six summer months. But the great 
differences of altitude naturally induce considerable variations in 
the amount of precipitation and the annual rainfall on the frequently 
cloud-capped Table Mountain is about 62 inches (1500 mm.), while 
at Wynberg on the lower slopes (250 ft. above the sea) it averages 
only 42 inches (1000 mm.), and in Capetown itself only 23.8 inches 
(600 mm.), the bulk in all three cases falling during the six winter 
months, 
