INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



lix 



Table showing distribution of genera with endemic species in the 



PHANEROGAMIC FLORA OF SoCOTRA — continued. 



Genera. 



u 



B 



m 



a 

 W 



S 



C? 



i 1 



■ c 



13 

 O 



3 ° 

 _>^£ 



a? 

 !S 



c 

 o 



S 



S5 



c . 



Oj "Jo 



* t3 



12 5 



« 03 



"S — 



9 

 < 

 O 



a 

 <3 

 a 

 'C 

 < 



S3 



< 



O 

 C 



-3 



C3 



a 

 |o 



Remarks. 



Haemanthus, 



Dioscorea, . 



Aloe, .... 



Dracaena, . 



Anthericum, 



Dipcadi, 



Urginea, 



Eiiocliloa, . 

 Panicum, . 

 Rhynehelytrum, 



Lepturus, . . T. 

 Ischnurus, . 



X 



20 



X 



X 

 X 



54 



X 

 X 



11 





X 

 X 



X 

 X 



X 

 X 







Essentially south African ; a few tropical African 

 species. 



Headquarters south Africa, hut extending through 



tropical Africa, the Atlantic and Indian Ocean 



Islands. 

 The section to which the Socotran species belongs 



is restricted to Canary Islands, Nubia, and 



Somali-land. 

 Spread through Europe, Africa, America, but 



absent from Asia. 

 Reaches Canary Islands on the west, and India 



on the east. 

 Reaches Canary Islands on the west, and India 



on the east. 



Has only two species outside of Socotra ; one is 

 Abyssinian, the other ^Ethiopian. 



Allied to the Indian monotypic Oropetium. 



1 



26 



13 



6 



5 



A glance at the features of the above table may not be without interest. 

 Amongst the twenty endemic genera the near affinities of Lachnocapsa, Den- 

 drosicyos, Socotora, and Wellstedia are obscure, and so much so in the case of 

 the last-mentioned genus that its order is not certain, and it has to be treated 

 as an anomalous gamopetalous genus allied to Boraginese or Verbenacese. 

 Dirachma and Ccelocarpus have very close south American affinities ; and 

 American relationships also appear in Arthrocarpum and Ancalanthus. Placo- 

 poda, Mitolepis, Cochlanthus, Xylocalyx, and Ballochia find their nearest allies in 

 south and tropical African and Madagascar genera. With genera of wide 

 distribution Nirarathamnos and Trichocalyx claim affinity. Cystistemon and 

 Cockburnia have Mediterranean relations, and the next-of-kin to Haya and 

 Lochia are found in monotypic genera of Europe and north Africa, and of the 

 region extending from the Canary Islands on the west to Scindh on the east 

 respectively. Ischnurus has a monotypic Indian alliance. Whilst these are the 

 undoubted endemic genera of the flora, it is to be remarked that a number of 

 the endemic species which are included in genera of extra-Socotran distribution 

 can only be so included by straining or modifying the characters of these 

 genera as they are at present described ; and this variation from the generic 

 character is an interesting feature in the plants of Socotra. The following 

 genera, for instance, are modified in conspicuous features by Socotran plants : — 



