28 THE DWAEF AETICHOKE. ch. ii. 



became more varied. The dominant plants were still 

 those we had seen in similar situations about Tangier — 

 the palmetto {Ghamcerops humilis), the great branched 

 asphodel {Asphodelus cerasiferus), a.nd some spiny species 

 of the Cytisus tribe ; but the slopes were covered with a 

 brilliant and varied vegetation, presenting a marked con- 

 trast to the comparative monotony of the tillage region^ 

 Most of the common orchids were seen, and we admired 

 the many climbing plants that cover the bushes, and even 

 reach the tops of tall trees. The beautiful Clematis 

 cirrhosa is, indeed, less common here than it is in Algeria ; 

 but the two forms of Smilax, the spiny and the smooth- 

 stemmed {S. aspera and S. mauritanica), were abundant ; 

 and a wild vine is common here, as it is in similar posi- 

 tions on the northern skirts of the Great Atlas, where it 

 is not known to have ever been cultivated for the produc- 

 tion of wine. Our chief botanical prize in this part of 

 the day's ride was a beautiful Cytisus, with silvery white 

 leaves and numerous dense heads of bright yellow flowers 

 [Genista elavata of Poiret). 



Throughout all this part of Marocco we were struck by 

 the abundance of a dwarf plant of the artichoke tribe 

 (Gynara humilis), which plays an important part in the 

 domestic economy of the natives. It is almost stemless, 

 and produces (at a later season) a large blue head of 

 flower from the midst of a great tuft of much divided and 

 very spiny leaves. Though not cultivated, it grows in 

 great abundance in waste spots and the margins of fields 

 on clay soil. Great piles of it were exposed for sale about 

 the land gate of Tangier ; and every morning whole pro- 

 cessions of men, women, children, and donkeys, all laden 

 with the same substance, were to be seen taking the same 

 direction. It was painful to watch the women, half veiled, 

 but not so as to disguise their age and ugliness, staggering 

 onward, with huge bare legs and feet, under balloon-like 

 loads of this spiny burden, tied up in a large coarse cloth. 

 At this season the foliage serves as fodder for animals ; 



