240 PLATEAU OF SEKTANA. ch. ^. 



valley was finally lost to view, we found that, instead of 

 reaching a pass whence we should descend into an adjoin- 

 ing valley more or less parallel to that which we had left, 

 the country before us was an undulating plateau, extending 

 over a space of many miles, through which no stream runs 

 from the higher mountains towards the plain. This 

 plateau does not subside gradually towards the low country 

 as might have been expected ; for at almost every point 

 we found higher ground lying between us and the plain, 

 in the form of rounded eminences, rising some three or 

 four hundred feet above the plateau. The soil was calca- 

 reous, and the underlpng pale limestone cropped up here 

 and there ; but the stratification appeared very irregular. 

 In some places we noticed bosses of intrusive igneous rock 

 of dark colour. Though no villages were in sight, most of 

 the surface was under rude tillage ; but the fields were gay 

 with a multitude of wild species in full flower. 



After the excitement of the preceding days, the after- 

 noon ride seemed uneventful in a botanical sense, as we 

 failed to find much that was altogether new. The most 

 interesting forms were several fine Orobanches, which 

 might here be studied with profit by a traveller less 

 pressed for time than we were. A great feast of colour 

 was presented to us as we approached Sektana, our camp- 

 ing place, by a magnificent new Linaria, of which we had 

 hitherto seen only stunted and starved specimens. In some 

 fields of corn not yet in ear, the spikes of numerous dark 

 crimson flowers all but concealed the green, and gave to the 

 surface a tone of subdued splendour. The plant has been 

 described by Hooker, in the Botanical Magazine (vol. 98, 

 No. 5983), as Linaria Maroccana. The artist, who had 

 not seen the wild plant, has failed to attain the rich tint 

 of the native flowers. In cultivation, the colour loses its 

 original depth, and in some gardens it has faded to a pale 

 purple or violet tint. From this, and other differences 

 shown in cultivation, it seems possible that this may be 

 an extreme form of Linaria heterophylla of Desfontaines, 



