Notes on the Sprriading of some Cyprian plants. 323 



of seeds and fruits of numerous different species. In many instances 5 — 6 dm.-'' of plant-fragments may tiius 

 be accumulated in tlie front of one of tlie numerous entrances of the dwellings. Above the village of Lapithos 

 on the northern coast of the island I was fortunate enough to see a species of small, black ants trans- 

 poi'ting seeds and other parts of plants up a steep mountain-side. The ants marched in a straight line 

 up tlie mountain-side in an endless train, at least 25 m. long, and nearly all of them carried a seed or a 

 little fruit in their jaws; especially a good number carried the fruits of Trifolinm stellatum and T. 'procumhens 

 (with calyx and corolla), but also several other species. The ants disappeared with their burdens into 

 a narrow hole in the rock; below this lay accumulations of empty fruits and other remains. In the 

 opposite direction, down the rock-wall, marched at the same time another train of ants, all of which were 

 free of any burden. P. Gennadius mentions that ants carry away from the threshing-places such quantities 

 of corn that this loss must be taken in regard from an economical point of view. ')— As an instance of a 

 plant, for the seeds of which the ants seem to have a predilection, Cyclamen jKrsicum may be mentioned. 

 In its ripe open capsules I have on several occasions observed numerous small, black ants in vivid move- 

 ments, and frequently we find, for instance in the vicinity of Paphos, this plant growing in crevices, to 

 which the seeds seem to have been ti'ansported by ants. The same observation has also been made at 

 Beirut in Syria by E. Hartmann.-) That the ants on Cyprus conti'ibute traceably to the spreading of 

 several plants on short distances, can not be doubted. 



At times we meet with plants, which are otherwise absent or rare in the tract, growing under 

 such cii-cumstances, that there is i-eason to believe that they have quite recently been transported to the 

 growing-place in question by the help of nature's own means of spreading. Some instances of this have 

 already previously been mentioned, thus the occurrence of Zannichellia pnlustrif; and Ranunculus aquatUis 

 in artificial water-reservoirs and a water-pipe at Kuklia in Messaria, and in a puddle in the rocks on Capo 

 Elæa (pp. 206—207), and likewise the find of 1 specimen of Epilohium angustifoUum on the slope of 

 Paputsa (pp. 230 and .320). Furthermore may be mentioned, that we often see Adiantiim CapiUus Veneris 

 growing on the interior walls of artificial wells, which may be situated at a great distance from the natural 

 growing-places of this fern. Of Jimiperus Oxycedrus subsp. rufescens I found a single small, quite 

 young specimen in the cedar-forest at Irka Steratsa, in straight direction at least about 15 km. from its 

 nearest growing-place in the tract near to Prodromo. 



Finally a Hst is here appended of such flowering plants, as during my excursions on Cyprus I have . 

 found growing epiphytically in the crown of various trees: 



Avena saiiva. A flowering specimen in the crown of Cemtonia Siliqua, 1.6 m. above the field, 

 at Alethriko. 



Smilax ospera. A large specimen (with fruits) in the crown of Quercus lusltanka, 3.5 m. above 

 the field, at Tsada. 



Moms alba. Common as an epiphyte, according to observations by Mr. G. Vassilion and myself. 



Ficus carica. Likewise. 



Pariclaria officinalis subsp. jiidaica. Several large, richly branched specimens on the stem of 

 Phoenix dactylifera outside the Sophia-Mosque in Nikosia, 4 — 6 m. above the field. 



Bosen ciipria. In the environs of Lapithos in several places in large, handsome specimens, in 

 the crown of Olea europaea, up to ca. 3 m. above the field. 



Arabis purpurea. A specimen with ripe pods in the crown of Platanus, 3 m. above the field, 

 at the Convent of Makhaeras. 



Geranium molle. 5 specimens in flower and fruit. 1.6 m. above the field, in the crown of 

 Ceratonia Siliqua at Alethriko. 



1) P. Gennadius, Report on the Agriculture of Cyprus, Part 1, p. 15. 



2) Fr. HiLDEBRANP, Die Gattung Cyclamen L. (Jena 1898).-Quoted after Sernander, 1. c, p. 4. 



