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.
THE ARAB TO THE PALM
BAYARD TAYLOR.
If I were a king, O stately tree,
A likeness, glorious as might be,
In the court of my palace I'd build for thee!
With a shaft of silver, burnished bright,
And leaves of beryl and malachite;
With spikes of golden-bloom ablaze,
And fruits of topaz and chrysoprase.
And there the poets in thy praise,
Should night and morning frame new lays,--
New measures sung to tunes divine;
But none, O palm, should equal mine!
The doom palm is another species, and is remarkable for its many-forked
stem. It is found in Upper Egypt and in Central Africa, and in some
sections is very plentiful, forming forests; while in others it is found
in isolated groups, growing in the very sands of the desert.
The leaves of this tree are shaped like a fan. From the fibres of its
leafstalks ropes are sometimes made. The tree is, however, still more
useful, for it bears a fruit about the size of an orange. In shape it is
somewhat different, being larger and more irregular.
The outer skin of the fruit is red. Upon peeling this off, a thick,
spongy, dry substance is found, having rather an insipid sweet taste,
and very much the appearance of gingerbread. For this reason the tree is
sometimes called the "gingerbread tree."
The substance found within the fruit is used for food, and it is
sometimes infused and used as a drink, which is very cooling and useful
in fevers. The seeds, one of which is found in each fruit, are
semi-transparent and very hard. Beads and other ornaments are made from
them.
Amid the tropical growth of the west of Africa the oil palm flourishes.
Its products furnish the incentive to an immense commerce, attracting
European ships to coasts once given completely over to the slave trade.
Along the tropical coasts the cocoa palm grows, while along the Gambia
River vast quantities of a species of plant called the groundnut are
extensively cultivated. Nine million bushels of groundnuts have been
exported during one year from the valley of the Gambia.
This plant has a peculiar habit of thrusting its pods into the ground
for the nuts to ripen; hence the name groundnut. Vast quantities of oil,
resembling olive oil and used for the same purposes, are obtained by
crushing the nuts. A bushel of nuts will usually yield a gallon of oil.
The plant grows like a trailing vine, with small yellow flowers. After
the flower falls, the stalk on which it grew grows longer, and, bending
downward, the pod on the end forces its way into the ground to ripen.
The vines are dug up by means of a pronged fork or hoe. They are then
spread out to dry, and finally stacked up to become thoroughly cured.
The pods are first picked by hand from the vines, and then cleaned in a
fanning mill to clear them of dust and chaff. Sometimes they are
bleached with sulphur before they are packed for market.
The groundnut forms one of the chief articles of food in some sections.
It is sometimes eaten raw, but is usually roasted. Recently an
interesting account of the process of making a meal from groundnuts
appeared in one of the daily journals. The experiment had been tried, in
the German armies, of using this meal in place of others obtained from
the various cereals. It was found on trial to be very nutritious,--far
more so than oat or rye meal.
By actual experiment, not only did the soldiers thrive upon porridge and
bread made of this meal, so rich in vegetable oils, but they became very
fond of it as a daily food and ate it with good appetite, even in their
soups.
As the cost of the meal is very slight, it will be a matter of economy
to make groundnut meal one of the ingredients of the daily food of the
German soldier. Arrangements have already been made to import large
quantities each year from Africa for use in making meal for army
consumption in Germany.
You will doubtless be surprised to learn that the groundnut is really
only a species of the familiar peanut. So it is really an old friend
with a new name. It is sometimes called ground pea, or earth nut. The
former name is given to it because its pod resembles the pod of the pea
vine.
In the southern portion of the United States a similar nut bears the
name gouber. Not only are the nuts of this plant of value as an article
of food and commerce, but the vines form an excellent fodder for cattle.