THE VEGETATION OF AFRICA.
The vegetation of Africa presents less variety than that of Europe or Asia, yet it has many peculiarities.
Along the coast of the Mediterranean it bears a close resemblance to that of Southern Europe. A traveler starting from the south of Europe for Tangier would note little difference in the vegetation, and might suppose he was still in sunny Spain or France. Groves of orange and olive trees would greet him; wide plains covered with waving grain and barley, thick woods of evergreen and oak, would appear like familiar friends in nature. Even the cork trees and sea pines would not be unknown to him.
Intermixed with these he would find the cypress and the myrtle, the arbutus and the fragrant tree heath, pleasant reminders of home scenes; while plains covered with rock roses or with palmetto trees and the wild caper would all tend to remind him of his European home.
In the early part of the year the weather seems very much like late spring in New England. The meadows are grassy and bright with myriads of beautiful wild flowers, and the gardens blossom with fresh beauty. The almond, apricot, and peach trees are then in full bloom.
In the summer season a few flowers may still be found along the river banks, although the intense heat in most sections has burned and withered almost every form of vegetable life.
The tropical regions of Africa are not so rich in the variety of plants as those of South America, but they present several kinds peculiar to Africa alone.
As the traveler leaves the sultry coast regions and ascends to the higher portions of land in the interior, he perceives a change in the character of the productions; for they present all the gradual changes noticeable in passing from a torrid to a temperate zone.
The forests of Africa cannot be said to rival those of Brazil, but they are rich in valuable woods, particularly the harder species. Many of them furnish excellent timber, suitable for shipbuilding. In these tropical forests, ebony, certain kinds of rosewood, and the timber called African teak, are produced. The gigantic baobab is also peculiar to these sections of woodland. Livingstone mentions instances where the gigantic trunks of some of these trees had become hollow from old age and served as natural cisterns for rain water.
The branches of the baobab make a canopy of a hemispherical form, often from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, the outermost branches drooping till they touch the ground. The leaves of this tree are five-fingered or seven-fingered. The flowers are white in color and extremely large, suspended on drooping stems often a yard in length.
The fruit, sometimes called monkey-bread, is about the size of a citron melon. Its pulp is slightly acid and agreeable to the taste, so that it may be eaten with or without sugar. The juice of the fruit, when mixed with sugar, makes a refreshing drink. It is not only effective in quenching thirst, but it is used largely in the treatment of pestilential fevers caused by the malarial vapors arising from many sections of Africa.
The natives of tropical Africa mix the bruised leaves of the tree with their daily food. Travelers use them for fevers and other sicknesses. The bark, too, is used for medicinal purposes.
In the central portions of Africa a most remarkable three, called the butter tree, is found. The fruit of this tree yields a species of oil, which has much the appearance of butter and serves the same purpose for food.
Some of the extensive level plains of Africa are covered with acacias. From the stalks of these trees the sap exudes in large drops, or beads, which, when hardened, form the gum arabic of commerce.
In different sections of Africa there are species of palm trees, characteristic of special localities. These are of the greatest value and importance to the natives.
In the north the date palm, in particular, is a never-failing means of sustenance, and seems to be a special provision of Providence for the wants of man, flourishing in regions of comparatively barren, and often surrounded by the hot, arid sands of the desert.