6 
ON THE FLORA OF KENTANI 
Male cones of Encephalartos villosus now mature, and when present are 
easily detected by their offensive odour. 
Grass fires begin and last with more or less frequency until November. 
June 
Grass fires rage and for the most part the country presents a sombre 
appearance. 
Red stemmed and red flowered Gyrtanthus angustyfolius shows up well 
against the blackened veld, and the smaller less conspicuous yellow Anoiganthus 
breviflorus also appears. 
It may be of interest to note that Gyrtanthus angustifolius seems to bloom 
any month provided the grass covering it has been burnt, coming up without 
leaves about 6—8 days after the fire. I can remember only on two occasions 
having found it in long grass, and then it was within a few feet of burnt 
grass. On these occasions the plants had leaves as well as flowers. 
Aloe ferox now makes a blaze of red on the otherwise bare Kobonqaba 
hills. 
At the coast Strelitzia Reginae crowns the sand dunes with its stately 
flowers of orange and blue. 
July 
What remains of old grass has now assumed a purplish tinge and is said 
at a distance to look like Scottish heather. 
The pale Mikania cape n sis takes the place of the bright Senecios on the 
margin of the woods. 
At the coast the shrubby Cotyledon virescens is found among the scrub, 
white Agathosma ericoides and lilac-pink Barosma Peglerae are seen on 
the veld. 
Aloe ciliaris adorns the rocks overlooking Qolora mouth. 
August 
The handsome Erythrina caffra blazes out, warning natives that ploughing 
season is at hand, and the creamy Gyrtanthus lutescens looks its prettiest along 
sheltered streams. 
September 
On the veld Dierama pendula gives its dainty pink bells to the spring 
breezes. The social Bobartia tinges with yellow the hill slopes where it has 
established itself, and towards evening the creamy brown Gladiolus tristis 
unfolds and gives out its sweet perfume. 
Ornithogahim lacteum and the ubiquitous Zantedeschia africana whiten 
the valleys. 
