232 



Remarks on the most Important Plant-Societies of the Island 



Lithospermum mcrassatinn 



Echium itaUcwii 



E. Eauwolfii 



Verbena officinalis 



Marruhmm vulgare var. npuhrm 



Moluccella sjnnosa 



M. laevis 



Ballota nigra 



Satitreia nepeta 



Hyoseyamus albus 



Withaiiia smnnifera 



Solamim mgriim 



Datura Stramonium 



Vei'onica Cymhalaria 



Plantago major 



P. albicans 



P. Lagopus 



Ecballiiim elateriiim 



Erigeron Vmi folium 



Inula graveolens 



Pulicaria arahica 



Matricaria Chamomilla 



Anthemis Cotula 



Senecio vulgaris 



S. aegypticus var. arahicus 



Silyhum Marianum 



Lappa major 



Carduus pycnocephalus 



C. argentatus 



Cirsium lanceolatum 



Centaurea iherica 



C. pallescens subsp. hyalolepis 



Scolymus hispanicus 



Rhagadiolus stellatus subsp. edulis 



As will be noticed, this vegetation is rather cosmopolitan; at any rate it is richer in foreign 

 elements, — as well as in species of a cosmopolitan distribution — than any other part of the flora of 

 this island. It contains species having their original homes in countries so far away as South- Africa 

 (Oxalis cernua) and North-America (Amaranthus albus). Especially the beautiful Oxalis cernua with its 

 large infundibuliform, citron-coloured flowers is a conspicuous plant in the ruderate vegetation, above all 

 in the neighbourhood af the towns (cp. pag. 117). It is probable that it has immigrated in the time of 

 the last generation; except through seed it is also distributed through axillary bulbs (such a one may be 

 seen in fig. 77). 



The greater part of the plants given in this list, however, doubtless have their proper home in 

 the eastern countries of the Mediterranean. It is worth to be noticed that most of the species above 

 mentioned are closely related to plants belonging to the wild flora of these regions; moreover that a great 

 lot of the species given here — apart from their occurrence in ruderate places — also occur under such 

 circumstances that we can not doubt their being I'eally wild. 



Many of the species given here as ruderate plants, are more or less xerophile in their structure; 

 from experience we know that they may grow even in very dry yards, roadsides, etc. Nevertheless, on 

 the whole, the ruderate vegetation of Cyprus has to be considered as a mesophile one, the purely mesophile 

 and the comparatively typically xerophile elements of the said vegetation being so closely connected with 

 each other that it is natural to treat of the ruderate vegetation as a unity. 



c. The Vegetation of Gardens and Artificial Plantations. In the neighbourhood of the towns as 

 well as in most villages and convents smaller or lesser orchaids and other artificial plantations are to be 

 found. Gennadius and Oberhummee in their abovementioned works') have given valuable informations 

 about the planted trees; here we shall only give a brief summary of some of the most important ones and 

 then speak a few words about the vegetation of herbaceous plants and bushes that grow in the shadow 

 of planted trees. 



The most prominent species of planted trees are without doubt vine (Vitis vinifera), carob tree 

 (Ceratonia Siliqua) and olive (Olea eiiropaea). These three species are widely grown, their products being 

 among the most important products of Cyprus. Although not to the same extent, they have to be con- 

 sidered all of them as rather typical xei'ophytes. On the other hand the vegetation which is found in 



') Gennadius, Agriculture ut' Cyprus. — Oberhi'mmer. Insel Cypern I, p. '295, seqv. 



