COAST FLOBA OF JAPYOIA, S. ITALY. 529 



forms enormous bushes, if we may so apply the term to a herba- 

 ceous plant. 



Halopeplis amplexicaulis, Ung. Sternb — Is only found in the 

 salt-marsh known as the " Salina grande," about three miles from 

 Taranto, where it occurs in the inundated or sandy parts. Our 

 plants are much less robust than those of Sicily. Some seed 

 produced thriving plants on my terrace for two or three years in 

 succession. 



Emex spinosa, Campd. [ Bumex thyrsoides, Desf. 



Triglochin laxiflorum, Guss. Orchis longicruris, Link. 



Ophrys Speculum, Link. Narcissus serotinus, L. 



Botryanthus commutatus, Kunth. Dracunculus vulgaris, Sch. Bip. 

 Carex serrulata, Biv. I 



Notholtsna vellea, Desf. — This interesting Fern has its station 

 on the rocks of the Serra towards the Montagna Spaccata, near 

 Gallipoli, which is the only one in peninsular Italy. In Sicily 

 it affects volcanic formations, in the same way as its relative the 

 JST. Marantce shows a partiality to serpentine. Here, however, 

 the habitat is of a calcareous nature, similar to those in Greece, 

 where the plant is not so rare. Its local name is " Spaccapietra ;" 

 "and it is said to be used to procure abortion. 



We now come to a group containing species which occupy the 

 same meridional belt, but do not extend further west than the 

 Italian islands, a few species extending northward to the Dal- 

 matian coast. To this we will give the name of the Italo- 

 Greciaet Floba ; and in it we find : — 



Berteroa obliqua, DC- ] Ononis Sieberi, Bess. 

 Anihyllis Hermannice, L. — This rare species is little honoured 

 in its own country, as it is used as a broom for sweeping the 

 streets of Gallipoli, being brought from a point east of the town, 

 where it is found to grow more luxuriantly than on the western 

 rocks. It is at the best but a stunted bush, and not in the least 

 flexible ; but its branches are so wiry and interlaced that it is 

 found to be a fair substitute for the Erica Scoparia, which is 

 used in other parts of Italy. It has the merit of durability, 

 which must have been its recommendation, as there is plenty of 

 the rare Erica verticillata, Forsk., in the neighbourhood, which 

 one would have thought "better adapted to such uses. 



Trifolium dalmaticum, Vis. 

 Elaoselinum Asclepium,Hevt. 



Valerianella Ve&icaria, Monch. 

 Leontodon fasciculatus, Nym. 



