8 BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



radicle relegate it to the Lepidineae, and possibly its nearest ally is to be found 

 in Lepidium. But amongst the Isatidae there are genera in the vicinity of 

 Isatis itself which present these characters, though they always possess a well- 

 marked winged, single seeded pod. 



Etym. *<*x*ot wool and xxfyx, capsule. 



Xi. spathulata, Balf. fil. loc. cit. Tab. III. 



Folia spathulata oblique dense tomentoso-velutina f-f| poll, longa £— £ poll. lata. Flores magni 

 •^2 poll- longi. Petala sepalis longiora. Siliqua T 5 2 poll, diam., basi thalamo bilobato cincta. 



Soeotra. On the sandy plains near Galonsir. B.C.S. n. 587. 

 Distrib. Endemic. 



Order IV. CAPPARIDEiE. 



A large family containing twenty-three genera of shrubby or herbaceous 

 plants, sometimes trees, inhabiting tropical and subtropical regions all round the 

 world. Of the five Socotran genera, all are characteristic of dry and sandy 

 localities. Two of them are almost entirely confined to such spots in tropical 

 Africa, and south-west Asia, with the adjacent islands. The others are nearly 

 cosmopolitan in the tropics. 



1. CLEOMK 



Cleome, Linn. Gen. n. 826 ; Benth. et Hook. Gen. PI. i. 105. 



A large genus of herbs or half shrubs spread in dry and sandy tropical and 

 subtropical regions of both the old and new worlds. Of the five Socotran 

 species, one is endemic, three are essentially inhabitants of the desert plains of 

 south-west Asia and north-west Africa, but one exhibits a distinct variety in 

 Soeotra ; the fifth is a common tropical weed. 



1. CI. papillosa, Steud. Nom. Bot. ed. 2. i. 382 ; T. Anders, in Journ. 

 Linn. Soc. v. (1860), Suppl. i. 3 ; Boiss. Flor. Orient, i. 413 ; Oliv. Flor. Trop. 

 Afr. i. 76 ; Hook. fil. and Thorns, in Hook. Flor. Brit. Ind. i. 168. 



Soeotra. Near Tamarida. Schweinf. n. 275 in lit. 

 Distrib. Through Arabia and Scindh to north-west India, and in Nile Land. 

 I have seen no specimens of this plant from Soeotra. Schweinfurth informs 

 me in a letter that he has it 



2. 01. socotrana, Balf. fil. in Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin. xi. (1882), 501. 



Herba erecta ; foliolis obovatis v. oblongo-obovatis ; petalorum limbo subdeltoideo ; siliquis 



adscendentibus ; seminibus pubescentibus. 

 Glanduloso-scabra 1-1 1 ped. alta. Folia trifoliolata petiolata 1-l^poll. longa ; foliola £-£ poll. 



longa vix r poll, lata obovata v. oblongo-obovata glandulosa v. subglabra. Racemi longi. 



laxi terminales. Bractcce inferiores trifoliolatte petiolatae, super iores simplices minutse 



eubsessiles. Flores pedicellati. Sepala lanceolata glandulosa. Petala ssepe inaequalia 



