20 BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



This species, as yet known only from Aden, Somali Land, and from Socotra, 

 finds perhaps its nearest allies in G. polyclada, Fenzl. (in herb. Kotschy Pers. 

 Austr. n. 674 ; Boiss. Flor. Orient, i. 542), a Persian plant, and as Franchet 

 suggests in G. Arrostii, Guss. (PI. Rar. 160, t. 30), a south European species ; 

 but it is easily separated by foliage, inflorescence, and flowers. With G. bellidi- 

 folia, Boiss. (Diagn. ser. 1, i. 11, non Willd.), a species from Muscat and 

 Beloochistan, there is also much resemblance; but that plant is an almost 

 unbranched annual, with a very small inflorescence and with many seeds. 



Tins beautiful plant of the Socotran hills I found in great abundance in 

 the shaded moist ravines near the summit of the Sicante peaks of the Haghier 

 range. The same plant was subsequently brought from Somali Land by ReVoil, 

 and Franchet, unaware of the publication of my diagnosis, described it (he. cit.) 

 as a new species, G. somalensis. It is a somewhat variable plant, at times being 

 almost glabrous, whilst from other situations it has a densely viscid glandular 

 hairy covering. With the presence of this greater viscidity is associated a 

 more robust habit, very marked in the inflorescence, which becomes more 

 densely branched, the branches diverge more, and the terminal ones are much 

 shortened. The flowers, too, are slightly larger. To this viscid hairy form, 

 which is the only one sent by Schweinfurth, and is the form from Somali 

 Land, I have given a distinct varietal name — 



Gr. montana, var. viscida, Balf. fil., in Proc. Boy. Soc. Edin. xiii. (1883). 



Robustior inflorescentiae ramis ultimis brevioribus et omnino pilis glandulosis vestita. 



Socotra. Rarer than the type. B.C.S. n. 554. Schweinf. n. 658. 



Distrib. Somali Land. 



The Socotran plant appears to be identical with a hitherto undescribed one, 

 first found at Aden by Thomson in 1872, and since sent home from that 

 locality by several collectors. We obtained it there in abundance. In the 

 Aden plant variations in -habit and clothing of the same character as in the 

 Socotran specimens are observed, though not so strongly marked. But there 

 is a farther variation observable in the inflorescences and flowers of the glabrous 

 form as found at Aden. The former become exceedingly diffuse, and the 

 pedicels are very short and delicate ; the latter arc greatly reduced in size, often 

 less than half those of the Socotran plants. In fact the inflorescence assumes 

 more the appearance of an Arenaria. I can find, however, no sufficient 

 character separating the forms as species, though a varietal name may be 

 assigned to the Aden plant, and it may be described as — 



G. montana, var. diffusa, Balf. fil. 



Ilerba inflorescentia diffusa ramosa ramulis ultimis capillaribus fioribusque minoribus. 

 Aden. Found by many collectors. 

 Distrib. Endemic. 



