IX. Notes on the Spreading of some Cyprian Plants. 



During my journeys ou the island I iiad tiie opportunity of making- some obsei'vations on the 

 spreading- of various plants. As in literature there are only very scarce informations to be found on the 

 spreading-biology of the Mediterranean flora, these observations will here be shortly mentioned, although 

 they are of a fragmentary character, and too brief to give any entire illustration of the possibilities of 

 spreading which are at hand. 



The ditferent ways, in which the spreading of plants takes place in nature, aie chietiy the 

 following:') 



A. Active spreading. 



1. Spreading through ott'shoots or subterranean wandering shoots. 



2. Spreading through exploding fruits. 



B. Passive spreading. 



1. Spreading by means of the wind. 



2. Spreading by means of water. 



3. Spreading by means of animals. 



a. Endozoic spreading. 



b. Epizoic spreading. 



c. Synzoic spreading. 



The active spreading hardly plays any great part in the vegetation of Cyprus. The dry climate 

 of the island and the hard soil are not favourable for the occurrence of plants with creeping otfshoots 

 or with subterranean wandering shoots. In fact such plants occur, but they are not so numerous as in 

 moister climates. In the sand-drift-formations along the coasts of the island, where the soil is loose and con- 

 stantly moving, a few species occur with creeping subterranean shoots. In Cyperiis Kalli the internodes may 

 reach a length of 40 cm. each, and the total length of the rhizome is often several meters; in the course 

 of a few years this plant may by means of the rhizomes spread over considerable areas. A similar way 

 of growing have amongst others also Triticum junceum, Ammophila arenaria and Imperata cyl'mdrka. — 

 A typical instance of a plant with explosive fruits, which by its own help throws out its seeds, we have 

 in EcbalHum Elaterium, which is very frequent along the road-sides and on ruderate-places in the low- 

 lands, especially in the vicinity of the towns. In its cucumber-like fruits, which already commence ripening 

 at the end of March, a strong tension in the interior layers of the fruit-wall takes place towards the 

 ripening-season- When the seeds are ripe the fruit-stalk loosens, and through the opening thus created the 

 sap and also a great number of seeds are spouted out to a distance of 1.5 m. or more from the mother- 



1) The arrangement is the same as in my treatise: "Høiere epifytisk planteliv i Norge." (Vid. Selsk. Forh. 1904, No. 6, 

 26 etc. Kristiania 1904). 



