THE KATURAL ITTSTOEY OF CTPRTJS. 895 



work itself. Tlie number of species is about one-fifth of those con- 

 tained in the Mediterranean region, and the predominant orders are 

 very nearly the same as elsewhere, and follow nearly the same order. 

 There is a gradually diminishing proportion of species common to 

 Cyprus and other islands and continents, as the distance increases. 

 On a rough estimate we find about 220 British species in the list. 

 Though, as we have seen, Cyprus is on the whole well wooded, there 

 is a great want of what the Germans call Laubholz. Several species 

 are rare, being found only in shady valleys, and many are entirely 

 wanting. Thus Quercus Cerris, Carpinus orientalis, Celtis australis, 

 Elceagnus orientalis, JEinca arhorea^ Crataegus orientalis^ Cercis 

 Siliquastrum, and several others are unknown. To these must be 

 added two Conifers, the .Stone Pine and the Tew. All these are 

 common throughout the rest of the Mediterranean region. 



The general aspect of the vegetation bears the impress of the hot 

 dry summer, in this respect agreeing with the flora of the whole re- 

 gion, of which Cyprus forms a part. It is diflferent, of course, upon 

 the plains and on the mountains, but there is no trace of an Alpine 

 Flora. The plains and lower hills have no forest, and the extreme 

 heat and drought prevent the growth of plants which rejoice in a humid 

 climate. There are no meadows except in a few boggy places, near 

 springs, but the corn fields, to the gratification of the traveller's eye 

 but to their own serious injury, are gay in spring with a vast number 

 of beautiful flowers, which soon wither away under the scorching sum- 

 mer sun. The waste lands, which form so large a part of the island, 

 bear, on a miserable soil, a scattered herbage of thistles and grasses, 

 JBoragineae, Euphorliae and Leguminosae, mixed with loosely scat- 

 tered shrubs of Labiates, Cistuses, and other plants, between which 

 there is plenty of room for every new comer. Under the shrubs a 

 great profusion of bulbous plants, dormant under ground during the 

 great heats of summer, start into growth when excited by the winter 

 rains, and passing rapidly through the stages of flower and fruit, dis- 

 appear with the end of the cool season. Many tuberous-rooted pe- 

 rennial exogens have a similar short cycle of growth above ground. 

 Our readers would not thank us for copying the lists of shrubs and 

 herbs peculiar to each region of the island, but those who wash for 

 accurate details will obtain much valuable information in the work 

 before us. The only plant w^hich our space will now allow us to notice 

 is a gigantic Umbellifer, Ferula vulgaris (or a variety of that species), 

 wdiich is a conspicuous feature in the landscape, attaining a height 



