316 MR. JOSEPH woods' NOTES OF A BOTANICAL 



saxatilis in abundance, Osyris alha, Huta hracteosa (the three 

 latter I found only in this place), MupJioi^bia portJandica, and 

 Siachys recta. Campanula Erinus was abundant in one spot. 

 There was also a large yellow OrohancTie, which hov\'ever I suspect 

 to be only a variety of O. major. An abundant shrubby vege- 

 tation on a rocky soil prevented me from ascertaining on what 

 plant it was growing. I noticed afterwards what appeared to be 

 the same species on an old wall at Somahoz, but the labours of M. 

 Renter, in the ' Prodromus,' have rendered it impossible to de- 

 termine the species of an Orohanche. It is very possible that a 

 skilful botanist may distinguish species, where the differences are 

 inappreciable by a less practised eye ; but unless he can point out 

 some characters which would enable a brother botanist to identify 

 his plants, he renders the science only the more obscure by pub- 

 lishing them. 



To return to La Pena : Ficus carica grows in the crevices of the 

 rocks, and if not an original native, is now perfectly naturalized. 

 Bushes of Quercus Ilea: are found with prickly leaves : I mistook 

 it at first for Quercus cocci/era. At the foot of the Peiia, in a 

 meadow crossed by a track leading from some quarries down to 

 the shore of the harbour, we find great abundance of Serapias 

 Cordillera mixed with the rarer S. Lingua, and I believe it was here 

 that I gathered some specimens agreeing perfectly with S. stricta 

 of "Welwitsch, which is, I think, the S, parvijiora of the ' Pro- 

 dromus.' Carum verticillatum occurs on the same spot: and a 

 little farther from the Peria, at the head of the bay, on a flat 

 moorish tract not much elevated above the tide, I met with Si- 

 metJiis hicolor plentifully, Pinguicula lusitanica, Cicendia Jlliformis 

 and Ulecehrum verticillatmn.. One would prefer to find plants 

 not known in England, but there is great pleasure in meeting 

 with those we have formerly thought it a triumph to find in our 

 own countiy. 



Another interesting walk is towards the mouth of the harbour. 

 There is a delightful footpath a little way from the edge of the 

 low cliffs which form its shore, and though the mountains are the 

 same as those we admired from Puente del Mar and from La Peiia 

 di Castillo, they present themselves in new forms and with new 

 combinations. One of the first objects in this direction is an 

 /m, growing in company with I. foetidissima ; it is perhaps I. 

 pumila, but I saw no trace either of flowers or fruit. The two 

 species of Serapias are abundant, and we have likewise Ornitho- 

 galum narhonense and Allium fallax. Cynosurus echinatus and 



