34 



PROCEEDINGS OP THE 



Having had an opportunity of examining Oxalis cernua in the 

 Maltese Islands in 1890 — as it is most abundant in Malta and 

 Gozo, but does not occur in Salmoue — -and again in Egypt in 

 1891, since it flowers from November to April, I found, as stated, 

 that the single form was invariably short-styled, the double form 

 beino- common in Malta, but not nearly to the same extent as 

 the single. Neither kind bears any fruit either in Malta or 

 Egypt as far as I could discover. 



The last place where 1 have seen it is Cannes, in 1892. I am 

 informed by Dr. Battersby, of that town, that it has apparently 

 decreased of late years. A single plant in the garden of M. A. 

 Constant at Grolf Juan was accidentally introduced with some 

 palms, but from what locality it was not known. It was the 

 short-styled form, as usual. It is not mentioned in M. A. Eisso's 

 'Flore de Nice,' 1844.; but M. Ardoino, in his ' Elore du De- 

 partement des Alpes-Maritimes,' 1879, says : — " Cette plaute du 

 Cap de Bonne-Esperauce que j'avais souvent remarquee dans les 

 sentiers pierreux autour de Monaco, et qui me paraissait echappee 

 des jardius, vient d'etre retrouv ee a Meiiton, a A'"illefrauche, a Nice 

 et a Cannes. EUe est en train de se naturaliser chez nous." 



In the Botanic Garden attached to the School of Medicine in 

 Cairo, I found Oxalis cernua cultivated in a pot, and a stray 

 plant was growijig in the garden. These two plants, however, 

 were the long-styled form, and not short-styled, as all those I 

 found in the orange-gardens in Cairo proved to be, and were 

 doubtless introduced from Malta. Hence it would seem that 

 while one plant was originally introduced from the Cape into 

 Malta about 1806, another has comparatively recently been in- 

 troduced from the same source into Cairo, whether accidentally 

 with Cape plants or intentionally the present Director could not 

 tell me. 



The conclusion, therefore, seems to be convincing that, as the 

 same features, as far as botanists have recorded their observations, 

 appear to be characteristic of all the plants growing throughout 

 the Mediterranean region, they have all been derived from the 

 original individual specimen first brought to Malta by Prof. 

 Giaciuto at the beginning of this century. 



That it should first reach the shores of Africa is only what 

 would be expected, as the Maltese have long had communication 

 in trade along the northern coasts *. 



As the plant is never known to ripen its fruits in the northern 

 hemisphere, though it does so at the Cape, where all three forms, 

 as well as the " double " one, occur, it may be as well to describe the 

 means by which its extraordinary multiplication takes place, for 

 in Malta it is ubiquitous. It carpets the roadsides as well as all 

 the exposed open ground around Valletta, and might be taken at 

 a distance for turf. It insinuates itself between the loose stones 



* The wbole number of plants recoi-ded by Ascherson in Tripoli and 

 Cyrenaiea is 917. Of these there are 217 wild plants common with Malta. 



