Mr. J. Ball on the Botany of Sicily. 341 



(Triticum maritimum, L., Bertol. Fl. It.); it seems quite im- 

 possible to separate this from the group forming the genus 

 Sclerochloa of Link. I here found a variety of Bromus ste- 

 rilis, L., with the panicle dense and pendulous, and the mem- 

 branous margin of the calycine valves broader and whiter than 

 usual, giving the plant a beautiful silvery appearance ; it is 

 very possibly a distinct species. A few miles to the southward 

 of St. Alessio is Taormina (the ancient Taurominium) : as the 

 traveller stands above the vast area of its theatre, his eye is 

 distracted from the glorious prospect which extends from the 

 southern point of Calabria on the one hand, across the Ionian 

 Sea, to the rocks of the Cyclops and up to the snowy peak of 

 Etna, by the gorgeous vegetation which mantles over this 

 mighty monument of ancient art. The Acanthus mollis, Phlo- 

 mis fruticosa, and Solanum sodomceum are conspicuous, and 

 here the botanist first notices the beautiful little Sedum ccsru- 

 leum abundant on the walls and rocks. I should think that 

 no spot in Sicily would better reward the naturalist or anti- 

 quary for a halt of some days : the small town of Taormina 

 contains many beautiful remnants of Norman architecture, and 

 the numerous half-ruined towns and villages that are perched 

 on the summit of lofty and seemingly scarce accessible rocks 

 must abound in objects of interest ; while the little inn at 

 Giardini, though not very inviting, is one of the most tole- 

 rable in the country. No one visiting the supposed site of the 

 scenes described in the Odyssey — the island of Polyphemus, 

 will fail to remark the singular geological phaenomena there 

 presented ; where beds of a very recent tertiary limestone are 

 interposed between the more ancient columnar lava and an 

 upper stream, which is not to be distinguished from that which 

 advances into the sea from the neighbouring shore ; inducing 

 the suspicion that the whole may have undergone material 

 changes even since the date of the Homeric record. Indeed it 

 is still to be determined whether the shells contained in a large 

 portion of the Sicilian tertiary strata be not identical with ex- 

 isting species *, thus referring the period of elevation to a more 

 recent epoch than has hitherto been suspected. The marshy 

 ground south of Catania contains many interesting plants, 

 such as (Enanthe globulosa, Bupleurum Odontites, L. (nee Sm.), 

 &c. ; one group of the genus Phalaris may be well studied 

 here, as within a confined range may be found P.paradooca, L., 

 P. nodosa, Spr., P. aquatica, L. (P. cmrulescens, Auct.), and 

 P. minor, Vf. ; it may be worth inquiry whether the characters 



* I have been informed that several supposed extinct species have been 

 dredged up by Mr. Forbes in the Levant. 



