144 PBOr. ALLMAN ON THE 



ricoccum, a European representative of the tropical family of 

 the Simarubew, while the white-leaved Cineraria rnaritima, and 

 the beautiful Lavatera rnaritima, with its large flowers of pale 

 rose, form other striking elements in the flora of the sea-cliffs. 

 Lower down, over the dry sandy beach the Squirting Cucumber 

 (Ecballium Elateriuni) sends out its prostrate stems and covers 

 the ground with its fine dark green foliage ; while here and there 

 the curious Thymelaceous plant, Passerina hirsuta, presents us 

 with a form of vegetation unknown in the flora of the north. 



Such are some of the most important features in the phy- 

 siognomy of vegetation in the littoral districts of Provence and 

 in Western Liguria, as seen during the months of March, April, 

 and May. Certain plants not strictly indigenous to this part of 

 the Mediterranean shores, but which have become acclimatized, 

 and by their cultivation enter largely into the industry of the 

 country, have been already noticed ; but our picture of the vege- 

 tation would be still imperfect without reference to some others 

 which have been introduced from more southern countries, and 

 which here, finding themselves in a congenial climate, have 

 become important elements in the landscape. 



Foremost among these is the Date-Palm (Phoenix dactyliferd), 

 which flourishes with but little care in most parts of the district 

 which we have been making the subject of our study. The form 

 of the palm is so intimately associated with the warmer regions 

 of the globe, and its tall, straight, unbranched stem and plume-like 

 crown of great pinnate or palmate leaves are in such strong contrast 

 with every tree form of the temperate and colder regions, that the 

 traveller from the north, when he witnesses for the first time the 

 date-trees of Hyeres and the Riviera, becomes more forcibly im- 

 pressed by this beautiful form of vegetation, than by any other fea- 

 ture of the country, with the fact that he has changed his latitude. 

 It is remarkable, and not easily explained among the pheno- 

 mena of distribution, that while the southern Date-Palm grows here 

 bo freely, and even ascends to some height upon the hills above 

 the coast-line, the Chamcerops Immilis (the truly indigenous palm 

 of the European shores of the Mediterranean, and still abundant 

 in the south of Spain and in Sicily) is nowhere to be met with. 



That the Date-Palm, however, has not thoroughly acclimatized 

 itself is shown by the fact that it is only during very exceptional 

 seasons and in a few specially protected spots that it is known to 

 ripen its fruit. 



