34 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 



many to the Palestine flora. I will first speak of the widies, and then of 

 Mount Hor and Petra. The latter places, I think, have not been botanized 

 previously to my visit, and are visited only with difficulty and expense, 

 owing to the cupidity and lawlessness of the sturdy beggars or Bedawin 

 who dwell there. 



Irby and Mangles, Commanders in the Royal Navy, travelling in 1816- 

 1820, were the first Europeans who visited these regions in modern times. 

 Further on I will quote a few remarks from their most interesting volume, 

 since I find no other allusions to the vegetation of the ancient capital of 

 the Nabathseans. 



The following plants not previously seen were gathered in Wady Abu 

 Kosheibeh (Wady Harlan), and on the Jebel or peaked mountain which 

 stands in a commanding position across its head : Fumaria micrantha, 

 Lag.; Er odium hirtum, Forsk.; Poterium verrucosum (?), Ehr.; Anvillcea 

 Garcini, D.C.; Cartharmts glauca, M.B.; C. lanatus, Linn.; Globularia 

 arabica,J. et S.; Podonosma syriaca, Lab.; Nerium oleander, Linn.; Pen- 

 tatropus spiralis, Forsk.; Boucerosia, sp. nov. ; Salvia cBgyptiaca, Lmn.; 

 Juniperus phoenicea, Linn.; Bellevallia flexuosa, Boiss.; Asparagus 

 aphyllus, Linn.; Asphodelus ramosus, Linn.; Pennisetum cenchroides, 

 Rich.; Cheilanthes odora, Sw., and NotholcBna lanuginosa, Desf. Of 

 these, Globularia, Podonosma, Boucerosia, Juniperus, and the two ferns 

 were obtained above the w4dy amongst the cliffs of Jebel Abu Kosheibeh, 

 from about 3,000 to 3,500 feet above sea-level. 



The Globularia is a pretty compact litde shrub, with blue heads of 

 flowers and small entire leaves ; the species here is the Arabian form, 

 G. arabica, perhaps hardly distinct from G. alypum, L., of the Mediter- 

 ranean. 



The two Asclepiads, Boucerosia and Pentatropus, are both frequent ; 

 the latter is probably P. spiralis, but as it was not in flower, Mr. Oliver 

 would not speak positively. It occurred again at the Ghor, trailing over 

 acacias. 



The Boucerosia may be B. aucheriana, Dene., an insufficiently described 

 plant from Muscat in South-east Arabia, which is also the nearest known 

 habitat for the Pentatropus. 



On Jebel Abu Kosheibeh were also gathered : Moricandia dumosa, 

 Boiss.; Gomphocarpus sinaiticus, Boiss.; Helianthemum Lippii, Pers.; 



