no FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



PARNASSIA L. 



P. palustris L. Grass of Parnassus. Stem 6-12 in. high, with a single 

 perfoliate leaf below the middle, and a solitary, terminal, beautiful white flower. 

 Root-leaves petioled, broadly heart-shaped, acuminate, entire, glabrous. Petals 

 obovate, *beautifully veined, twice length of sepals, which are ovate and spreading. 

 Capsule globular, 3-4 valved. 



Wet places in the lower mountains and sub-Alps, uncommon. July-September. 



RIBESIACE^E. 



RIBES L. 



R. grossularia L. Gooseberry. This well-known prickly shrub is found 

 in hedges and thickets in the montane and sub-Alpine region of both Depart- 

 ments. 



R. alpinum L. Grows in rocky places in the sub-Alpine forests. 



R. nigrum L. (Black Currant) is perhaps indigenous in the mountain 

 region of les Alpes-Maritime and it is often cultivated. 



R. rubrum L. (Red Currant) is sometimes found well established near 

 houses ; and R. petrasuiTi W ulf. grows in shady, rocky places in mountain 

 and sub-Alpine woods, e.g. Val de Pesio and St. Etienne-le-Sauvage (Ardoino). 



HALORAGACE^B. 



Myriophyllum verticillatum L. and M. spicatum L. are found in 

 stagnant water here and there on the littoral. May-July. 



FICOIDE^. 



MESEMBRYANTHEMUM L. 



M. nodif lorum L. A small annual species not exceeding a foot in length, 

 and the only one indigenous, in a few places, on the Riviera. Leaves cylindric 

 obtuse, fleshy, glabrous; stems glaucous, covered above with little crystalline 

 papillae. Flowers solitary, shortly peduncled ; petals very small, white, yellowish 

 at the base. Fruit with 5 angles. 



Sands and rocks by the sea, very rare. April-May. In the bed of R. Baillon 

 near Nice, Cannes, He de Bandol, He de Porquerolles. 



M. acinaciforme L. Stems long, thick, fleshy, knotted, creeping or falling 

 in festoons and forming great carpets. Leaves opposite, sessile, persistent, fleshy, 

 green or sometimes reddish, trigonous. Flowers very large, often 3 inches or more 

 across, pale pink, deep magenta, pale violet, white or yellowish. The pair of 

 long upper bracts on the flower stalk, fleshy and connate. Two exterior sepals 

 large and foliaceous. 



Originally from the Cape of Good Hope, this plant is now naturalized on the 

 whole of the littoral and also in the lies d'Hyeres. It is especially common on 

 railway banks and often by the sea-shore. March-May. 



M. edule L. Is a closely allied species from the Cape with rather smaller 

 magenta flowers and broader and flatter leaves. The pair of bracts on the 

 flower-stalk are opposite and connate, as in the last, but much shorter and 

 (together) more cup-shaped. The sepals are smaller and more membranous. 



It is common on the littoral region, and sometimes grows with the last. 

 Both species begin to flower in March or April on the Riviera, but this species 

 is rather later than the other. 



CACTACE^;. 

 OPUNTIA DC. 



O. Ficus-indica Mill. = Cactus Opuntia L. Prickly Pear, Figuier de 

 Barberie (Plate XV). Plant very fleshy, 3-6 ft., spiny, without leaves. Stems com- 

 posed of fleshy, compressed, oval or oblong, joints, superimposed at the edges, and 



