. British Central Africa; an attempt to give some account of a portion of the territories under British influence north of the Zambezi. Natural history. BOTANY 213 So much for beauty of colour; now for the beauty of outline. There are five species of palm abundantly represented in British Central Africa: the Borassus, the Hyphaene, the Wild date, the Raphia, and the Oil The cocoanut palm grows at one or two places on the Shire River and on Lake Nyasa, but it is an introduction from the East Coast. The most graceful of. RAPHIA PALM FRUITING 1 The oil palm, either the Elais guineensis of
. British Central Africa; an attempt to give some account of a portion of the territories under British influence north of the Zambezi. Natural history. BOTANY 213 So much for beauty of colour; now for the beauty of outline. There are five species of palm abundantly represented in British Central Africa: the Borassus, the Hyphaene, the Wild date, the Raphia, and the Oil The cocoanut palm grows at one or two places on the Shire River and on Lake Nyasa, but it is an introduction from the East Coast. The most graceful of. RAPHIA PALM FRUITING 1 The oil palm, either the Elais guineensis of West Africa or a nearly-allied species grows in North- West Nyasaland. It is found chiefly in the very fertile plain lying between the Nkonde mountains and the Lake shore ; also in the well-watered hill country of the Atonga. So far as I am aware it is not found further south than the latitude of Bandawe—about the middle of Lake Nyasa—nor does it seem to reach any part of the east coast of that lake. It may be reported eventually from the Chambezi River which flows down the Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau and becomes the Upper Congo, but it has not been recorded up to the present. Therefore, after quitting Lake Nyasa and ascending to the Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau one does not encounter the oil palm again until the south shore of Tanganyika is reached. Here there are a few examples but it is not abundant. On the Upper Luapula, however, Mr. Sharpe found it growing in considerable numbers and apparently identical with the West Coast species ; but this may be the result of direct introduction by the Alunda—a West African people who make considerable use of its oil for food. Mr. Whyte and myself have done our best to introduce the oil palm into South Nyasaland and the nuts planted in the Zomba Botanical Gardens have already grown to the height of a couple of feet. Even if there was no idea of exporting the palm oil and thus competing with West Africa it would be extremely useful local
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
