206 li'ciiiiirks luj the must Imiiortaiit I'laut-SoiiiHies of the Island. 



beiiiir as yet but incompletely examined (a few species of aig'ae are enumerated by Ungku') accordintr to 

 the determinations of A. Gkunow; my own collections of alj^ae, being likewise insiuniticant, have not been 

 determined yet except the Characeae). 



The phanerof,'"ame aquatics known fi'om Cyprus arc partly to be referred to the "'limnaeae" of 

 Wakming, partly to the "enalides", two classes of societies that are vciy closely connected with each 

 other; because of the close resemblance of the forms of life in both they ought in fact perhaps to be 

 united into one. Both of them srow on loose sea-bottoms, their structure being tit for this. The only 

 difference between them is this that the typical enalides grow in salt watei'. the limnaeae in fresh water; 

 in bi-ackish water representatives of both classes meet, and many plants living in brackish water can live 

 on one hand in I'ather salt water, and on the other hand in water which is practically fresh. 



The few phanerogame aquatics hitherto known from Cyprus belong to the families Potamogetonaceae, 

 Alismataceae and Ranunculaceae. 



In purely salt water Pusidonia oeemiu-a grows abundantly in many places along the coast of the 

 island; after a storm one may tind thick heaps of the stalking roots and faded leaves of this plant throughout 

 the beaches near the ripple-marks, in the same way as Zuatcra marina in Noi'thern Europe. Some fresh 

 plants may be seen among the others. In the very habitation I had no opportunity of examining it. The 

 form seen in Cyprus was distinguished by its leaves being only i mm. bioad. 



In ditches tilled with water very near the level of the ocean, in many places in the neighbourhood 

 of Larnaka, towards the Salt Lake and also in the opposite direction along the road leading to Pyla, 1 

 have found great lots of Buppia marifima. The water of the ditches was rather salt. All the samples 

 found by me belong to the subsp. B. rot<teIlata, indicated for Cyprus by Aschekson-Gkakbneu as well; 

 on the other hand I was not able to tind the other subsp. 1\. fiiimlis, which is indicated for Larnaka by 

 BuissiEK after his examination of Kotschy's samples. 



In the so-called "lakes" near Vatili and Paralimni (cp. p. 4 above) I found very few phanei'ogamc 

 aquatics and in the very Salt Lakes of Larnaka and Limassol none at all; the latter of the two had totally 

 dried up before my visit in the beginning of May. In the "lake" of Vatili Eununculus a(pMtiU)y subsp. 

 paucistaihi-iieu.^ was the only phanerogame aquatic to be seen; although 1 examined every part of the 

 small region covered with water I only saw 4 specimens of the plant. At Paralimni the "lake" was dry 

 as early as the 9th of April, and only in some muddy ditches at the end of the lake below the village 

 open water was to be seen; in these ditches Zaiuiichpllia 2)aluiitris subsp. ijedicellata grew very fre(iuently; 

 along with it I found a single specimen of Ranunculus aquatilis subsp. confusus. 



Pag. 5 above I have mentioned the large water reservoir near Kuklia in Messaria built some 

 years ago by the Government to make an end of the lack of water in the neighbouring districts. The 

 water is kept in by a bulwark of earth more than I km. long and (5— 8 m. high. It has a gate through 

 which the water in times of drought can be poured over the fields. On the 6th of April 1905 the depth 

 of the water was generally no more than ca. 0.2—0.8 m.; in some places, however, it reached a few me- 

 ters. The water reservoir was first made use of in the spring of 1901 ; in this place open water did 

 not exist before. Although the reservoir was so new I found during my visit in 1905 an aquatic vegetation 

 rich in quantity, but poor in quahty. On the bottom Zannichdliu palusiris subsp. pediceUata grew very 

 abundantly; along the shores were loose samples washed ashore and now forming thick bunches several 

 cm. thick. At several places the white flowers of Eantinculus aquatilis subsp. eircinnatus were to 

 be seen. In places where the depth of the water did not exceed 0.5 m., thick growths of a sterile 

 Cyperacée, probably a Scirpus. were everywhere to be found. According to the sayings of the inhabitants 

 of the village, fish were also to be found in the water (according to their statement it was eel)-); every 

 place was also full of tortoise. 



') Ungbr and Kotschy, Iiisel I 'yperu. [i. 150 — 156. 



"^) Eel has liecii repeatedly indieated fur the "lakes' and rivers uf Cvprus (cp. Oberhlmmer. Insel Cviierii. I. p. 335). 



