268 Botanical Notices from Spain, 



with Frankenia corymhosa, Desf. In other respects the vegetation 

 had nothing peculiar. 



From Motril I ascended on the 15th of June the Sierra de Lujar, 

 lying some miles to the eastward, a dolomite range of mountains 

 more than 6500 feet high according to the measurement of Clemente, 

 which runs parallel with the Sierra Nevada, from which it is sepa- 

 rated by the deep valley of the Rio de Orgiva. This range is joined 

 on the east by the considerably lower and vine-clad Sierra de Con- 

 traviesa, which forms the southern boundary of the eastern Alpu- 

 jarras, and is divided by the valley of the Rio de Adufrom the Sierra 

 de Gador situated in the province of Almeria. In the hilly country 

 lying between Motril and the Sierra de Lujar, Thymus capitatus, Lk., 

 HofFm., occurred in flower, and around Motril it covers large tracts; I 

 also gathered here in corn-fields Reseda lanceolata, Lag., and on shady 

 walls near the little village of Lagua a species of Scrophularia resem- 

 bling S. crithmifolia, Boiss., but differing from that, and probably a new 

 species. The vegetation of the Sierra de Lujar is on the whole very 

 similar to that of the Sierra Tejeda, but less rich in species. In the 

 upper portion however occurred some interesting plants, which I had 

 not before gathered, as Centaurea Boissieri, DC, Serratula pinnatifida, 

 DC, Helianthemum canum. Dun., H. niloticum, P., JEthionema sax- 

 utile, R. Br., Thlaspi perfoliatum, L., and Arenaria grandiflora, L. 

 Here grow, as in the Sierra Tejeda, Cerastium repens, Alyssum aU 

 pestre and montanum (3. vulgare, Saxifraga spathulata, Draha hispa- 

 nica, Vella spinosa, Ptilotrichum spinosum, Anthyllis erinacea and 

 others in great numbers. This mountain-range is in part wooded 

 with Quercus Ilex, and from the foot to the summit occurs Aphyllan- 

 thes monspel., L., which is wanting on the Sierra Tejeda, as well as 

 in some places Callipeltis Cucullaria, DC, in great abundance. 



On the 16th of June I left Motril, and had the good fortune to 

 find, upon limestone rocks in the neighbourhood of the little town of 

 Velez de Benandalla, the hitherto little -known Xa/Mew^m rotundifolia. 

 Lag., a remarkable Personata, with very fragile thickly interlaced 

 stalks, round fleshy curved leaves and dense naked heads of small 

 yellowish white flowers resembling those of a Crucianella. In Velez 

 I crossed the Guadalfeo, which was extremely swollen by the snow- 

 water, in order to go a roundabout way through the Sierra de las 

 Almijarras to Granada. This wild romantic limestone chain, which 

 is partly M'ooded with Pinus Pinea, P. halepensis and P. Pinaster, as 

 well as by Quercus Ilex and Qu, lusitanica d.faginea, rises scarcely 

 to 5000 feet, and forms a half circle open toward the east, or more 

 properly takes a horse-shoe shape. The centre of this extensive chain, 

 west of the village of Guajar Alto, passes imperceptibly over to the 

 Sierra Tejeda, and from hence a lofty southern mountain-chain 

 stretches along the coast as far as the Guadalfeo, whilst a second 

 lower chain goes parallel with the former and the western part of the 

 Sierra Nevada, terminating in the country of Lanjaron, and forming 

 the rocky wall on the right of the Rio Grande. The two chains are 

 separated by a broad valley, which is watered by a rivulet and in 

 part filled with hills ; in this valley lie three villages, Guajar Fondo, 



