COAST FLOHA OF JAPTOIA, S. ITALY/. 525 



divide them into different groups, which will he described here- 

 after under their respective heads. 



Amongst the members of the General Mediterranean Flora 

 there are many very rare species ; but their number and wider 

 ' distribution preclude them from a fair notice in this short paper ; 

 so I shall proceed to describe their economical uses and varieties 

 rather than select any for their mere rarity. First of all I will 

 mention the peculiarity of habitat exhibited by Alyssum mem- 

 tanum, L., and Allium tenuifolium, Ten., both of which are to be 

 found on spots close by the sea and almost on a level with it ; 

 whereas they are found usually at a greater or less height on 

 the Apennines or their spurs. The first-named is found at 

 San Pietro in Bevagna, while the latter grows by the Montagna 

 Spaccata, a maritime rock on the coast near Gallipoli. There also 

 a curious form of Umbilicus horizontalis, DC, is found, having 

 each of its flowers supplanted by a spike placed horizontally. In 

 the pastures near Otranto the abundance of Trigonella corrti- 

 culata, L., and T. monspeliaca, L., which are called locally by the 

 name of " forficicci," from the fancied resemblance of their fruit 

 to a pair of scissors, are found very inconvenient, inasmuch as 

 they communicate a very nauseous flavour to the flesh of beasts, 

 and even birds, who feed on them. One must have frequently 

 observed that the peculiar odour of the Trigonellas remains in the 

 herbarium for a great many years, probably as long as the plant 

 is intact. A curious variety of Teucrium Folium, L., is found on 

 the coasts of Gallipoli and Otranto, the plants being procumbent 

 and rooting, and the flowering heads show a tendency to turn 

 yellow when mature. In the same places Sideritis romana, L., 

 has its whorls of flowers so closely placed as to resemble 

 S. approximate, Guss., which one finds in Sicily, and which I 

 believe to be only a variety of the first-named. In the sands 

 about Gallipoli Plantago albicans, L., is remarkable for the large 

 cottony processes at the end of the spikes, which are almost in- 

 variably disfigured by this development. In the same sands the 

 vine is found to thrive very well ; and large spreading fig-trees 

 grow where one would only look for Ammophila. 



This curious state of things is attributed to the quantity of cal- 

 careous matter, whether the produce of shells or not, which is 

 found in the sand-hills. Not only in reclaimed marshes, but in 

 old arable land, the planting of vines is becoming universal, the 

 dwarf procumbent vines yielding a wine which contains from 15 



2 q 2 



