184 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 
foliage, were torn up and left here and there, and long lines were 
made of them to mark off each cultivator’s portion of the ground. 
After leaving Ramleh and entering upon the mountain region, 
T observed a considerable change in the character of the flora. - 
The soft herbaceous plants of the plain gave place to a low shrubby 
vegetation on the arid limestone hills and terraces. The Arbutus, 
with its large leaves, and the Lentiscus, were the most conspicuous _ 
shrubs. The rocks were yellow with the broom-like blossoms of 
the Calycotome villosa ; and the Locust Tree, with its rich dark- 
green glossy foliage, afforded a grateful shade in the hot defile of 
Bab-el-Wady. At Kirjath-jearim there was a clump of native 
Pines (Pinus halepensis), which seemed to be more suited for the 
heights of the Lebanon, than for association with the solitary 
Date-palm that grew not far off. 
There is a remarkable contrast between the flora on the western 
slopes of the mountain plateau of Judea and the flora of the 
eastern side. Immediately after you pass over the Mount of 
Olives, and descend into the Wilderness of Judea, there is a 
distinct change of vegetation. The desert type of plants 
suddenly begins to appear. Only a few ubiquitous species remain 
behind of the Mediterranean flora of the western plains and 
uplands. From Jaffa to Jerusalem the ascent of 2,600 feet on 
the western side is very gradual, and is spread over a distance of 
about 40 miles; but the descent from Jerusalem on the eastern 
side to the Valley of the Jordan, about 3,800 feet, is very abrupt, 
and is compressed into half the distance. It is like the descent 
of a mountain side, about the rate of one foot in twenty. And 
the flora makes an equally rapid change. I found Ranunculus 
Asiaticus, a semi-tropical species, taking the place of Anemone 
coronaria, and covering the ground with its showy scarlet 
blossoms. It is so like the Anemone that it is often mistaken 
for it ; and for a long time, to my wonderment, I was accompanied, 
as I thought, by my old familiar friend from the Plains of Sharon, 
though I could not understand how it could endure the heat and 
the aridity of the soil and air, until I stopped on one occasion 
and gathered a specimen, when I discovered that it was a new 
plant, adapted to the altered conditions. To my surprise I also 
found here a lovely little blue Ixia, the Jaolirion montanum, 
which also grows at the edge of the snow on Mount Hermon ; 
