204 



His collections were made in December, 1892, on the journey 

 from Berbera through the Habr Awal country and the Haud to 

 Milmil, which latter place is well south of the British boundary. 

 They belong to only three, or possibly five, species which were 

 enumerated by Dr. Chiovenda* in 1897. If we add a species 

 gathered by Robecchi-Bricchetti on a former journey on the 

 western frontier of British Somaliland, the number of grasses thus 

 made known from the Protectorate amounts to fewer than 20. The 



from 



Maid 



by J. M. Hildebrandt as long ago as 1871 and 1873 respectively. 

 No list of the plants collected on those occasions was published ; 

 but from Hildebrandt's set at Kew and Prof. Engler's references 

 in his sketch of the vegetation of the Somali Peninsulaf it appears 

 that the grasses were represented in his collections by not more 

 than eight species. Including Hildebrandt's grasses mentioned 

 by Engler and a new species described by Dr. Rendle from 

 Mrs. Lort-Phillip's collection we have still less than 25 species of 

 Gramineae on record from the whole of British Somaliland. 



Material has, however, been accumulating at Kew during the 

 last twelve years which allows us to form a better idea of the 

 general character and composition of the grass vegetation of 

 British Somaliland and to some degree also of its economic value. 

 Some information as to the extent of grass land, all of which 

 has to be classed as grass steppe, may also be gleaned from the 

 reports of travellers who did not themselves collect. 



It is proposed to give in this paper a general account of all that 

 can be grasped concerning the grasses of British Somaliland, from 

 the published as well as the unpublished evidence at our disposal. 

 As to the latter, it consists mainly of three sets of plants at Kew. 

 Of these I have to mention in the first place the collection of 

 Mrs. Lort-Phillips and Miss Edith Cole. Both botanised in the 

 country between Berbera and the upper parts of the Golis Range 

 from February to April, 1895. In 1897 Mrs. Lort-Phillips visited 

 the same district and the Waggar Mountains. A considerable 

 number of new species, discovered on both occasions, wa9 

 described by the botanists of Kew and the British Museum, 

 among them being, however, only one grass, Ghloris somalensis, 

 Rendle. I have now to record 26 species out of the collections 

 made by these two ladies, and mostly by Mrs. Lort-Phillips. No 

 fewer than 21 of them were unrepresented in the earlier collections. 

 Unfortunately many of their species were neither localised nor 

 accompanied by notes as to the conditions of their habitats, 

 frequency, association with other plants and other particulars 

 which can only be supplied by the observer in the field. Another 

 very important collection of grasses was made in Somaliland by 

 Lieut.-Col. A. F. Appleton, Army Veterinary Department, who was 

 attached to General Manning's Force during the operations against 

 the bomalis from 1902 to 1904. Apart from a few specimens 



Ruapoliana lectae in Annuari 



S8-78, tt. iii.-yii. 



«-v fW, iu, it I. — V 11. 



Prt,^ ng il r ' ££? . ?. ie . Ve g etati on-^erhaltais 8 e <les SomaliLandos in Sitz. Ber. 

 ±Teus*. Ak. Wiss. 19 J4, x ., pp . 355-416 (reprint 1-62). 



