GIBRALTAR PLANTS. 133 



J. Hogg, in his very interesting observations on the classical 

 plants of Sicily (Hooker's Journal of Botany, vol. i.) says, that 

 " it is the tempting and deceitful fruit of this plant, which 

 grows abundantly, according to travellers, on the shores of that 

 well-known lake of Avernus, the Dead Sea, which, as soon as 

 bitten, becomes dry dust, like ashes. A small insect frequently 

 punctures it, and converts the inside into powder, leaving the 

 skin whole, and of its original colour. From this arose the 

 story of the delusive apple, 



* which grew 

 Near that bituminous lake where Sodom flamed.' 



The S. tuberosum (potato) is cultivated in Gibraltar and its 

 neighbourhoood ; as also the Capsicum annuum, C. cerasiforme, 

 and C. grossum (capsicums). The Physalis peruviana and P. 

 somnifera are found in gardens. The Solanum lycopersicum 

 (tomato) is also extensively cultivated, and likewise the " egg 

 apple plant" (BrinyaWs) ; and hedges are formed of the Ly- 

 cium Europaeum, which has often been mistaken for a 

 species of Rhamnus. 



SCROPHULARINE.E, R. Br. 



Verbascum sinuatum, L. 



Hab. Mediterranean region of Europe. Asia Minor. 

 North of Africa. 



OBS. The principal locality for this plant is on the declivities 

 above the Alameda, where it gives a peculiar feature to the 

 vegetation of that part of the rock. 



Scrophularia mellifera, Vahl. 

 S. sambucifolia, L. 



Hab. South-west region of Europe, Portugal. North of 

 Africa. 



Scrophularia frutescens, L. 



S. canina, L., var. frutescens, Boiss. Folia obo- 



