Dec. 1903.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 439 



attention. This proved to be Solanum sodomceum, an 

 introduced species, and the fruit were " Dead Sea apples," 

 handsome to look on but utterly uneatable. Passing over 

 some low hills we reached the beautiful coast and came 

 upon a wealth of rare plants. Yellow masses of Ononis 

 crispa, most viscid and glandular, which when pressed 

 seems to incorporate itself with the paper into one sticky- 

 mess ; Scnccio Bo drijue zii ; Digitcdis duhia, a pale-coloured 

 foxglove, very soft and velvety ; Eup horbia inibricata ; 

 Lairitcxanunon^M^is : and Vicia hifoliata,. — all were found 

 within a small compass. These are special Balearic plants, 

 and the two latter grow only at Cala Alesquida. The 

 fragile, filiform stems of the little vetch have to be 

 extricated from the midst of prickly bushes, up through 

 which they invariably grow, and to obtain them uninjured 

 one must exercise all that patience and restraint in 

 language for which the field-botanist is noted. The 

 number of spinous and prickly plants in the locality was 

 remarkable. Thorns and prickles prosper well in that 

 country, and fences are cheap and good. A thicket of 

 Oxycedrus juniper overgrown with Smilax is quite un- 

 approachable. But besides those, the Calycotomc spinosa, 

 Jnncus acufus, and other well-known species, there were 

 scattered about among the stones many inviting mossy- 

 looking cushions of close texture, hemispherical in shape, 

 and often four or five feet in circumference, tempting the 

 weary pedestrian with their apparent softness. But , far 

 from aftbrdkig a comfortable seat to the wayfarer, these 

 cushions of Astragalus potcrmm are masses of interlacing 

 needles, among which the small white flowers appear. 

 Other similar but coarser cushions are formed by plants of 

 Sonchus spinosus. From neither is it possible to prepare 

 satisfactory specimens for the herbarium. Aspararjiis 

 horridus, too, consists of little else than two-inch spines, 

 sharp, and so tough and strong that I had to tread portions 

 under foot to flatten them enough for pressing. Yet the 

 young shoots of this plant are tender and edible, and they 

 appeared to furnish all the table asparagus that was served 

 during our stay in the islands. The coast thereabout 

 reminded one of the choicest Channel Island scenery, but 

 is even more rocky. Minorca is a solid miss of stone. 



