VEGETATION OF THE EIVIEBA. 143 



ornaments the dry cliffs with its handsome purple flowers. Nar- 

 cissuses, yellow and white, are in profusion in the plains ; and with 

 the very first breath of spring Anemones (Anemone coronaria and 

 A. hortensis, with their many varieties) abound in the olive-woods, 

 and fill the lower meadows and shady valleys with the marvellous 

 beauty of their scarlet, or blue, or violet-coloured flowers ; while 

 a little later we find, associating themselves with the Anemones, 

 brilliantly coloured Tulips — the large-flowered crimson Tulipa 

 prcecox, and the beautiful little T. Clusiana, with its elegantly 

 pyramidal flower-buds, and its flowers of purest white banded with 

 crimson on the outer side, and deep within the cup dashed with 

 softest violet. "Wild Flaxes of many species {Linum narbonensis> 

 L. maritimum, and L. viscosum, &c.) abound in the hills, where 

 they make the valleys bright with their blue, or pale yellow, or 

 rose-coloured flowers. Orchids referable to many genera (Orchis, 

 Ophrys, Serapias, JSpipactis, Spiranthes, &c.) and of strange mimetic 

 forms are in multitudes ; there are few habitats in which some 

 species may not be found. White and rose-coloured Alliums 

 (A. neapolitanum, A. roseum, &c.) are in blossom in the cultivated 

 lands, and Gladioluses ( Gladiolus segetum) send up their tall spikes 

 of purple flowers under the shadow of the olive-woods. In dry 

 and stony places the beautiful little primulaceous plant, Coris 

 rnonspeliensis, spreads over the rocks its tufts of rosy flowers ; and 

 shady banks among the hills are covered with blue Hepaticas. 



Along the margins of the watercourses the leafy stems of the 

 great Eeed (Arundo Donax) grow to a height of twelve feet or 

 more in picturesque groups of tropical aspect ; while everywhere 

 around their base, and vigorously pushing themselves through 

 the soil, are the strong light green conical shoots which are to 

 become the young stems of the new year. 



Abundant on dry banks throughout the whole littoral region is 

 the curious liliaceous plant, Aphyllanthus rnonspeliensis: you would 

 take it for a tuft of rushes, were it not that every stem is crowned 

 with one or two blue lily-like flowers. It is destitute of true 

 leaves, which are represented only by brown membranous sheaths 

 which surround the stems just above the root. 



Close upon the sea-shore the Mathiola incana has taken possess- 

 sion of the most inaccessible spots upon the cliffs, which it lights 

 up with its bright violet flowers ; the handsome yellow-flowered 

 leguminous shrub, Coronilla valentina, roots itself in the clefts 

 of the rocks, where it is associated with the singular Cneorum 



