310 Mr. E. Forbes on the Botany of the 



grow nowhere else^ and every little oasis in its barren desert 

 is_radiant with flowers of exquisite loveliness, and odorous with 

 fragrance of sweetest herbs. In ascending Monte Spaccato 

 from Trieste, we pass over two different geological formations, 

 the lower part being composed of conglomerate and the upper 

 of limestone, each presenting a different Flora. The latter 

 rock especially abounds with rare and local plants. The hill 

 is a natural botanic garden ; it is so covered with various spe- 

 cies, which greeted us in such quick succession^ that it was as 

 much as I could do to carry away a few examples of each for 

 myself without taking duplicates. Our progress upwards was 

 first hailed by Polygala comosa, which abounds alike on lime 

 and sandstone. Andropogon Gryllus and Festuca glauca are 

 likewise frequent on the latter rock. The sides of the hill are 

 covered by Ostrya carpinifolia, Quercus pubescens, Pistacia 

 Terebinthus, Rubus discolor, Cytisus capitatus, and Genista syl- 

 vestris. Amidst these I picked a beautiful specimen of the 

 splendid Limodorum abortivmn. As we ascended to the cal- 

 careous strata many species quite new to me appeared, 

 often of great beauty, such as Berinia andj^yaloides, Convol- 

 volus Cantabrica, Euphorbia fragifera and Onosma stellula- 

 ta, and plants past flowering of Pceonia peregrina were not 

 rare. But the summit surpassed the sides : there were con- 

 centrated the more beautiful plants Me had passed, accom- 

 panied by Genista sericea^ Linum perenne ? and narbonense, 

 Verofiica austriaca, Arenaria laricifolia, Euphorbia (nov. spe- 

 cies near Gerardiana, Thomas,) Genista diffusa, Arenaria 

 verna (the true plant, not the British), Astragalus vesicarius, 

 Silene Pseud-otites, Orobus versicolor, Hieracium peleterianum, 

 Dictamnusfraxinella, (which with Clematis erecta also adorned 

 the sides), Centaurea variegata and a hundred others, " too 

 numerous to mention.^^ Of great interest to the botanist, on 

 the highest point, grew Spartium radiatum, first found here by 

 Mr. Bentham last year, and refound by myself. Among the 

 plants past flowering I remarked Gentiana angulosa, Scorzo- 

 nera austriaca, Mercurialis ovata and Cineraria arachnoidea, 

 while Centaurea splendens and a host of Dianthi, as yet in bud, 

 gave evidence of a harvest in a month or two as rich and as 

 varied as that present. The view from the summit of the hill 



