The rate of increment in circumference at breast height of canopy tree species in the southern temperate, Mist-belt forest at Xumeni, Natal, South Africa, is very slow. The mean for all trees calculated from measurements in 1929 and 1966 is 0.201 ± 0.015 inches per year. Results from an ordination analysis of 39 plots were interpreted in terms of a successional gradient from serai sites on steep ground, characterized by Kiggelaria africana, Xymalos monospora and Fagara davyi, to climax sites on flatter ground with Podocarpus spp. Two climax types are indicated, with P. henkelli on moist soil and P. falcatus on drier soils.