surrounded by cliffs less than 100 feet high. The surface of the island is similar to, 

 and compares with, the summit of Jebel Dukhan as a plant habitat and has a flora of 

 about 40 species, all represented on Bahrain. 



The Island of Raka 



This small island is now a private estate with much cultivation and was not visited. 



The Bahrain Desert Flora 



The main feature of the desert flora of the Bahrain Islands is certainly its lack of 

 particularity. It may be that one or two of the more critical species will, on close ex- 

 amination prove to be peculiar to it but it is clear that there is virtually no endemic ele- 

 ment in the flora. Not only so but considerably more than half the species are gener- 

 ally described as having ranges which co^er at least the greater part of the whole North 

 African- Indian desert region, and the occurrence of these in Bahrain calls for no spe- 

 cial comment, because the islands lie close to the mainland of Arabia, which is one of 

 the chief constituent parts of this region. There is also a considerable number of spe- 

 cies which are usually regarded as characteristic of the western or 'Mediterranean' 

 part of this great region, and for many of these the Bahrain records probably extend the 

 known distribution considerably to the east. The remaining species, which do not 

 number more than about twenty, are geographically either Arabian or Persian- Indian, 

 that is to say they relate to one or other side of the gulf in which the Bahrain Islands 

 lie. In short, the Bahrain desert flora may be described as essentially an Arabian flora 

 in which the proportion of more widespread North African - Indian desert species is very 

 high. 



Probably the most generally distributed species is Zygophyllum album which may 

 occur in almost any situation. Also particularly characteristic are Mesembryanthemum 

 nodiflorum, Heliotropium tuberculosum, Limonium axillare, Lycium persicum, Aspho- 

 delus tenuifolius, Aeluropus lagopoides, Sporobolus pallidas and Stipa tortilis. 



Other common and prominent plants are:- 



Reseda muricata ifloga spicata 



Helianthemum kahiricum Richardea tingitana 



Helianthemum lippi Senecio coronopifolius 



Frankenia pulverulenta Glossonema edule 



Spergularia diandra Cressa cretica 



Fagonia ? bruguieri Arnehia hispidissima 



Zygophyllum simplex Plantago coronopus 



Erodium glaucophyllum Hemiaria hemistemon 



Erodium laciniatum Sclerocarpus arabicus 



Astragalus tribuloides Halopeplis perfoliatus 



Medicago laciniata Salsola brevifolia 



Trigonella stellata Andrachne telepbioides 



Aizoon canariense Cyperus arenarius 



Opophytum forskahlei Hyparrhenia hirta 



Calendula aegyptiaca Cymbopogon schoenanthus 



Launaea mucronata Koeleria phleoides 



Launaea nudicaulis Schismus barbatus 



54 



