Pithyranthus. — Carum. 697 
A. Umbels 6—8-rayed; bracts persistent. . ... . 1. P. tortuosus. 
B. Umbels 2—5-rayed; bracts caducous . . . . . . 2. P. triradiatus. 
985. (1.) Pithyranthus tortuosus Benth. and Hook. Gen. I 
(1862—1867), p.890. — Aschers.-Schweinf. Ill. Flor. d’Eg., p. 80 
no. 464. — Aschers.-Schweinf. Ill. Flor. d’Eg., Supplem. p. 758. — 
Aschers. Flor. Rhinocol., p. 796 no. 120. — Sickenberg. Contrib. Flor. 
d’Eg., p. 240. — Bubon tortuosum Desf. Flor. Atlant. I, p.257 tab. 73. 
— Deverra tortuosa DC. Prodrom. IV, p. 743. — Boiss. Flor. Or. I, 
p- 860. — A perennial plant, 40—60 cm high or more, glabrous, 
dichotomously branched from the base. Root-leaves and lower stem- 
leaves rounded in outline, bipinnatisect into linear-subulate, rigid, 
divergent lobes; the upper ones reduced to oblong sheaths. Umbels 
with 6—8 rays, 1,5—2 cm long; persistent bracts of the involucre 
oblong-ovate, and of the involucel ovate, membranous-margined, 
shorter than the pedicels; fruits shorter than the pedicel, sparingly 
hirtulous. — Flow. March to April. 
M. ma. Marmarica: Matruga to Abukir. — M. p. Qatiya to 
El-’Arish; el-Grady. — D.1. D. i. D. a. sept. Everywhere in the 
desert common. 
Local name: shebet-el-gebel; qasikh (Forsk.); kerawy (Ehren- 
berg); saqikh (Schweinfurth); qesikh (Ascherson). 
Also known from Tunisia and Tripolitania. 
986. (2.) Pithyranthus triradiatus (Hochst.) Aschers. and 
Schweinfurth in Aschers.- Schweinf. Ill. Flor. d’Eg. (1887), p. 80 
no. 465. — Sickenberg. Contrib. Flor. d’Eg., p. 240. — Deverra 
riradiata Hochst. in Schimp. Plant. arab. exsice. Il, p.454. — Boiss. 
Flor. Or. I, p.861. — A perennial plant, 40 cm to 1 m high or 
more, glabrous; stems erect, juncaceous, alternately branched, loosely 
panicled above. Upper stem-leaves reduced to short, ovate-triangular 
sheaths. Umbels 2—6 rayed; bracts of ,the involucre and the 
involucel caducous, the latter ovate, hooded, as long as the flowers; 
fruits shorter than the pedicel, densely long-hirsute. — Flow. March 
to April. 
D. i. D. a. sept. Scattered in the deserts. 
Local name: qasikh; saqikh. 
Also known from Arabia Petraea and Syria. 
t 386. (9.) Carum Linn. 
Calyx-teeth obsolete or small; petals oval or obovate, with 
inflected acumen, entire or bilobed, usually white. Stylopods 
conical or thick. Fruit ovate or oblong, laterally compressed; 
