FAUNA AND FLORA OF SINAI, PETRA, AND WADY 'ARABAH. 17 



of the Wddy Sheikh, remarkable sections of marl deposits, many feet in 

 thickness, were examined. These no doubt represent the bed of a large 

 lake of the recent period cut through by streams which once contained a 

 steady supply. Examination of evidence of this nature v/ill form an 

 interesting portion of Professor Hull's results. 



At Jebel Watiyeh a fine granite pass connects the eastern and 

 southern prolongation of Wady Sheikh. The summit of this I estimated 

 at 4,150 feet above sea-level. On it I obtained Diantkus sinaicus^ 

 Boiss. ; Buffonia multiceps, Dene. ; Arenaria graveolens, Schreb. ; 

 CratcBgus sinaica, Boiss.; Cotyledon umbilicus (?), Linn.; Poa sinaica 

 (?), St.; and most of the species of Zibb el Baheir. The withered 

 Psoralea (sp. ?) occurred also. The first two of these are peculiar to 

 Sinai. There was a well-marked difference here in the floras of the north 

 and south side of the peak, the Cotyledon and grass occurring only on the 

 north side, while the Artemisiae, Anabasis, and other ubiquitous desert 

 species prevailed on the other or southern face. 



Laurence caught for me on this crag a locust {Tryxalis unguiculata, 

 Linn.), resembling exactly the withered straw-coloured twigs and sand in 

 which he lived. 



Further towards Wady Suweirtyeh grow Pyrethrum santalinoides, 

 D.C. ; Centaurea eryngoides, Lam.; Alkanna orientalis, Boiss.; Litho- 

 spermum tenuifiorum., Linn. ; Suceda monoica, Forsk. ; Piptatheruni 

 multiflorum, Beauv. ; and of rarer kinds, Echinops glaberrimus, D.C. ; 

 Iphiona montana, Vahl, ; I. juniperifolia, Coss. ; Anarrhinum- pubescens, 

 Fres. ; Primula Boveana, Dene. ; and Teuerium, sinaicum, Boiss. 



It was interesting to notice a form of Cotyledon umbilicus, Linn., the 

 only apparently native British dicotyledon I met with in Sinai. It has 

 been gathered here previously by Bov6, according to Decaisne, who 

 recorded it under the present name. Unfortunately my specimens are in 

 too bad a condition to determine, consisting only of young leaves and a 

 withered stem. The root was tuberous. It is plentiful on Mount Hor, 

 and is not unlikely to be identical with the new form Dr. Schweinfurth 

 gathered on mountains between the Red Sea and the Nile Valley.''^ 



Retama Retem., Forsk., is very common in these high-lying wMies. 

 It quite takes the place of acacia, and was now laden with its one-seeded 



* Barbey, op. cit., p. 134. 



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