Mr. J. Ball on the Botany of Sicily. 343 



cies o^Frankenia, {F. lavis and another doubtful one,) together 

 with several litoral species. 



The limestone hills which lie to the westward of Syracuse 

 contain many interesting species, but have been scarcely at 

 all examined ; I noticed Salvia triloba, L., Convolvulus tricolor, 

 L., a doubtful Pyrus, Oplirys tenthredinifera, W., and Orchis 

 lactea, Poir. It is only on arriving on the southern shores of 

 Sicily that the traveller discovers the semi-tropical character 

 of its vegetation ; here the ground is covered with the dwarf 

 palm, Cluimcerops humilis, L., and many species of Helianthe- 

 mani, and waving in the breeze will be seen those singular 

 shrubs Ephedra distachya, and E.fragilis, Dsf.* On the sea- 

 banks grow Momordica Elaterium, and Mesembryanthemum 

 crystaUinum, and here and there tufts of the beautiful and 

 anomalous grass Lygeum spartum. Amongst many scarce 

 UmbelUferce I gathered on the sands near Terranova Orlaya 

 maritima, Koch, Krubera lej)tophylla, Hoffm., Kundmannia 

 (Sium) sicula, DeC, &c. ; also Bromus lanceolatus, B. scoparius, 

 B. maximvs, several varieties, Ammophila arundinacea, &c. It 

 would be impossible within the limits of a brief sketch to give 

 any notion of the great variety of the vegetation of this coast, 

 I have no doubt but that many interesting species would re- 

 ward any examination that may be given to it : Girgenti, from 

 the surpassing interest attaching to its architectural remains, 

 would naturally be chosen as head quarters ; in the same neigh- 

 bourhood a large number of fossils of the tertiary strata might 

 be collected with little trouble : amongst the rare plants al- 

 ready known in the neighbourhood, I may mention Ornitho- 

 galum arabicum, L,, 0. narbonense, L., Scabiosa dichotoma, 

 Lavatera Ayrigentina, and L. cretica ; the first four I observed 

 near to the so-called temple of Juno. I suspect that the nu- 

 merous species of the tribe of Cynarea have not yet been suffi- 

 ciently examined ; I found a species of Carduncellus, probably 

 undescribed ; the Cirsium Italicum, DeC. Pr., though scarce in 

 Italy, is here frequent : there are also many Sicilian species of 

 Euphorbia omitted in Mr. Hogg's list ; besides those already 

 noticed there are, E. trinervis, Bert., E. melapetala, Caspar., 

 E. cuneifolia, Guss., E. orientalis, L., E. spinosu, L., E. ptero- 

 cocca, Spr., E. Cupani, Guss., and probably many more. 



In the beautiful district lying between Trapani and Palermo, 

 the naturalist who will explore the pathless mountain ranges, 

 such as that which runs to the westward from Alcamo, will 



* Any botanist carrying a microscope or a powerful lens should carefully 

 examine the structure of the inflorescence and fructification of these plants, 

 as in the dried state this becomes impossible ; at present very little seems to 

 be known on the subject. 



