. Natal province : descriptive guide and official hand-book . especially towards the close of the season, all is barren and dull,cattle and sheep having eaten and trampled down the plants until but few flowers are is unfortunate that the railways in the upper districts do not pass near to any of the largeforests, for it is in and around the margin of these forests that the flora is seen at its the forest the climbing plants find their way to the tops of the trees, where they beartheir flowers and mature their seeds, while the branches and stems of many of the largertrees ar
. Natal province : descriptive guide and official hand-book . especially towards the close of the season, all is barren and dull,cattle and sheep having eaten and trampled down the plants until but few flowers are is unfortunate that the railways in the upper districts do not pass near to any of the largeforests, for it is in and around the margin of these forests that the flora is seen at its the forest the climbing plants find their way to the tops of the trees, where they beartheir flowers and mature their seeds, while the branches and stems of many of the largertrees are frequently covered with epiphytal orchids of different species, mostly bearing whiteor yellowish flowers, which, however, are of botanical interest only, while the margins of thebrooks are literally covered with many charming and interesting ferns, and from the treesand rocks are often seen hanging in profusion the curious Lyeopodium gnidioides andL. vertieillatum, with Selaginella kraussinana carpeting the ground beneath. Though By J. Medley Wood, ,jfif). • • 5 . • i A Iocs epiphytal Orchids are not very showy, many of the terrestrial ones are exceedingly so. Theycommence flowering when the spring has fairly set in, and the different species flower insuccession until about the end of March, an exception being the pretty little Swan Orchid(Cynorehis eompaeta) which flowers in July and August ; it is peculiar to Natal and is ratherrare. Amongst the forest trees bearing conspicuous flowers may be mentioned the CapeChestnut (Calodendron eapense) with large trusses of lavender-purple-spotted flowers ; NatalBottle Brush (Greyia Sutherland!) with spikes of brilliant scarlet flowers ; several species ofErythrina all with scarlet papilionaceous flowers, and the singular Alberta magna of themidlands, whose flowers are a dullish red, but whose winged seed-vessels become bright scarletand remain a considerable time on the tree, rendering it conspicuous even at a considerabledistan
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