xxxiv BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



On the dry sandy plains the vegetation typical of the desert regions on the 

 mainland reigns. We have, for example, dwarfed undersbrubs, with hard woody 

 short stems and densely -set short branches, often quite white with down and 

 hairs, and ending frequently in hardspinose points, such as Breiveria fastigiata, 

 Indigo/era intricata, Neur acanthus aculeatus, Ochradenus baccatus, Pulicaria 

 stephanocarpa ; or herbs with hard-wooded stock deeply rooting and with main 

 branches gnarled and clustered in masses on the surface of the ground, from 

 which perhaps a few long twigs shoot up stiff and erect, or straggle over the 

 adjoining soil, as in Lndigofera nephrocarpa, species of Heliotr opium, Lavandula 

 Nimmoi, Diceratella incana, Farsetia longisiliqua, Barleria tetracantha, and 

 others ; or undershrubs or herbs with prickles or spikes of some kind, as in 

 Capparis spinosa, Fagonia cretica, Balsamodendron Mukul, Crolalaria spinosa, 

 Acacia socotr ana, Lycium europaum, Blepharis spiculifolia, Barleria tetracantha, 

 Neuracanthus acideatus and N. capitatus, Lasiocarys spiculifolia, Asparagus 

 africanus, and others ; or fleshy plants with foliage scarcely developed, or itself 

 fleshy, as in Capparis aphylla, Vitis subaphylla, Statice axillaris and S. cylindri- 

 folia, Socotora aphylla, Boucerosia sp. ; or wiry annuals, such as Cleome tenella, 

 Silena apetala, Linum gallicum, Polycarpcea sp., Linaria hastata, Oldenlandia sp. 

 Aromatic odours are a marked feature in many plants, as in Plectranthus 

 sp., Lavandula Nimmoi, Balsamodendron sp., Cleome sp., and others ; and also the 

 occurrence of gums and gum-resins, which in some cases appear as natural 

 exudations in the form of tears, as in Acacia socotr ana, Jatropha unicostata, 

 Euphorbia obcordata, Balsamodendron sp., Dorstenia gigas. Over all, and giving 

 quite a character to the whole landscape, is the glaucous-grey colour, due either 

 to a waxy bloom on the more leathery and fleshy forms, as Mcerua angolensis, 

 Vitis subaphylla, Osyris arborea, Vogelia pendula, and others, or to the more 

 common presence of a hairy covering of some kind. Quite the larger number 

 of the plants have such clothing, and thus the vegetation is characteristic of 

 desert regions. The flora of these tracts is that of the Arabo-Saharan district, 

 such genera abounding as Farsetia, Cleome, Fagonia, Corchorus, Heliotropium, 

 Indigofera, Crotalaria, Breweria, Balsamodendron, Anticharis, and others. The 

 effect of the plain (desert) -climate and conditions upon the habit of plants is 

 particularly well exemplified in some species upon the island which are found 

 growing both on the plains, and also on localities upon the hills in circumstances 

 of a less rigorous character, for example, in Vernonia Cockburniana, Aerua 

 microphylla, Lavandula Nimmoi, Dirichletia obovata, Placopoda virgata, and 

 others ; in the former position they have the characteristic desert-type, in the 

 latter they lose the hardness in their wood, and the gnarled feature of the 

 branches also disappears, flexible twigs, with large and delicate leaves, tend 

 to develop, and glaucousness lessens. 



Leaving the plains, and passing to the hill-slopes and valleys, plant-life is 



