8 Vegetation of Dalmatia. 



larly rich in the Orchideas and in flowering shrubs. June favours 

 the Umbelliferse and Compositae ; and generally, towards the 

 middle of the month, the temperature is already at 17" or 18°. 

 No time, therefore, is to be lost in collecting ; for, there being 

 no rain, the heat, which, in July, rises to 25°, burns up every 

 thing. From this period, until the end of August, no rain falls, 

 except in the mountains ; but, in compensation, there is a heavy 

 dew almost every night, by which alone vegetation is preserved. 



On the elevated mountains of the Velebit, the snow generally 

 remains upon the ground until the end of April ; but sometimes, 

 on the Dinara and the Biocovo, it lies as late as May, and even 

 until June. Storms are rarely experienced : it is only in Febru- 

 ary and March that they occur ; never in the hot months. The 

 temperature is variable. When the Bora arrives, it often rises 

 from 10 to 15 degrees; but at other times the evenings are gene- 

 rally cool and damp. Clouds hang about the mountains. Along 

 the coast and in the islands, the weather is serene, and I recollect 

 no fogs. Snow seldom falls on the coast. 



Under such peculiar circumstances, it is naturally to be expected 

 that the vegetation should also bear an extraordinary character ; 

 and even those who are not botanists must be struck with the 

 number of prickly shrubs and thorny plants which cover the sur- 

 face of Dalmatia; and which, united with the stony nature of the 

 soil, cause pain to the traveller at every step he takes, i^hamnus, 

 Paliurus, and jRiibus cae^sius, with Punica Granatum, i^osa 

 spinosissima, Zycium europas'um, tSmilax aspera, &c., growing 

 together in hedges round the fields, oppose, even to the soldiers, 

 an impenetrable barrier. Woe to him who ventures to scale 

 these formidable ramparts : the destruction of his garments would 

 prove the most trifling of the injuries he would have to sustain. 

 On the road, the traveller meets with the rough and spiny E'chi- 

 um pustulatum, Spartium spinosum, Acanthus spinosissimus, 

 Echinops Ritro^ Asparagus acutifolius, ^uphthalmum spinosum, 

 Capparis spinosa. Ononis spinosa, jEryngium, Carlma ^canthifcMia, 

 Ey\^\\6xhia spinosa, Jiincus acutus ; Jiiniperus, three species ; Cac- 

 tus Opuntia, Onosma stellulatum, Serratula arvensis, Echinophora 

 spinosa, Onopordon illyricum, Centaurea solstitialis, Carthamus 

 lanatus and tinctorius, iScolymus hispanicus, Xanthium italicum ; 

 which wound him at every step, and render (particularly in 

 summer, when they dry up and harden) many districts quite im- 

 penetrable. In vain does the wearied traveller look around for 

 a resting-place ; he can only lie down upon a bed of thorns, ren- 

 dered still more insupportable by myriads of insects. 



Dalmatia contains no true alpine plants ; but many of our 

 subalpine flowers are found on the Velebit, the Dinara, and the 

 Biocovo; such as (Sen^cio Doronicum^ ^chille« Clavenn^j", »Se- 

 dum stellatum, Z)raba lasiocarpa, ^axifraga rotundifcilia and 



