April  7,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
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and  V.  planifolia.  Amongst  Ferns  there  are  Phlebodium  aureum  and 
many  Gymnogrammas,  the  Palms  also  being  abundant. 
The  rainfall  of  tropical  Africa  is  considerably  less  than  that  of  other 
parts  of  the  tropical  world,  and  even  in  its  central  equatorial  belt 
50  inches  is  rarely  registered.  Included  in  this  category  are  Senegambia 
Thunbergia  alata  (fig.  61),  Strelitzia  regina,  and  Bertolonias,  with  such 
Palms  as  the  distinct  and  beautiful  Latania  Commersoni,  L.  borbonica,  and 
Areca  rubra.  Also  in  the  central  equatorial  belt,  including  Zanzibar,  are 
found  Impatiens  Sultani,  Dracmna  Goldieana,  and  Sanderiana. 
Passing  to  that  portion  of  the  New  World  within  the  tropics,  Mexico 
on  the  west  coast,  and  Mozambique  on  the  east,  with  the  Islands  of 
Madagascar,  Socotra,  Mauritius,  and  Bourbon.  They  have  the  year 
divided  into  rainy  and  dry  seasons,  the  annual  rainfall  in  Mauritius 
being  32  inches.  The  plants  of  tropical  Africa  comprise  Stephanotis 
floribunda,  Clerodendron  Balfourianum,  Pentas  carnea,  P.  Kermesiana, 
has  a  rainy  and  dry  season,  and  the  annual  average  fall  is  90  to  lOO  inches. 
As  its  flora  is  distributed  over  the  tableland,  and  not  in  the  burning  plains 
of  the  eastern  and  western  coasts,  the  whole  country  is  raised  by  a 
succession  of  mountains  into  the  air  from  4000  to  6000  feet,  and  although 
within  the  torrid  zone  possesses  a  temperate  clime  and  moderate  rainfall. 
