48 BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



Whether or no the generic character can be extended to include this plant 

 remains for futher discovery to determine, for there are but a few fragments of 

 the plant in Kew Herbarium. But its existence only increases the interest 

 attaching to the Socotran plant, and illustrates further the intimate relation 

 between the south African and the Socotran floras. 



This is the only instance in the flora of a small and well-marked genus with 

 Antipodean representation, but we have, as has been already noticed, instances 

 of endemic genera whose nearest allies are genera of limited new-world distri- 

 bution. Dirachma amongst Geraniacese has been mentioned, and we shall find 

 amongst Verbenacese a distinct genus, Ccelocarpum, very closely allied, almost 

 congeric with a genus restricted to Bolivia, Brazil, and Mexico, all reminding 

 us, as is set forth in the Introductory Chapter, of like features observed in the 

 floras of other Indian Ocean islands. 



T. socotrana, Balf. fil. in Proc. Roy/Soc. Edin. xi. (1882), 505. Tab. VI, B. 



Suffraticosa graveolens glanduloso-papulosa ; foliis oblanceolatis v. anguste obovatis ; floribus 

 solitariis extra-axillaribus ; ovario sessili ; seminibus longe muricatis. 



Suffrutex ramosus glaber omnino glanduloso-papulosus graveolens. Folia §-1 poll, longa \- £ 

 poll, lata simplicia conferta anguste oblonga v. obovata v. oblanceolata obtusa basi atten- 

 uata margine revoluta integra crassa. Pedunculi uniflori solitarii extra-axillares v. sub- 

 axillares \ poll, longi. Sepala 4 subrotundata ^ P oU - longa- Petala 4 oblongo- 

 elliptica £ poll, longa. Stamina 8 petalis breviora, antheris suborbicularibus apiculatis. 

 Discus crenato-lobatus. Ovarium sessile. Capsida £ poll, longa. Semina 5-6 reni- 

 formia, lateribus levibus dorso longe muricatis 1J poll, longa. 



Nom. Vern. Fighen (Schweinf.). 



Socotra. On the Haghier hills, at an altitude over 1500 feet. B.C.S. n. 

 395. Schweinf. n. 619. 



Distrib. Endemic. 



Our plant is very strongly odorous, and its leaves are somewhat broader than 

 in the new world plants, and it is also distinguished from them by its solitary 

 flowers, forming a short raceme at the end of the branches, not arranged in 

 lateral racemes, and by its completely sessile ovary. The muricate seeds are 

 only present in the Mexican species ; in the Californian one they are smooth. 



3. CITRUS. 



Citrus, Linn. Gen. n. 901 ; Benth. efc Hook. Gen. PI. i. 305. 



A small genus endemic in tropical Asia; but the species are met with culti- 

 vated and as escapes all through the tropics. 



C. aurantium, Willd. Sp. iii. 1427 ; Hook. fil. Flor. Brit. Ind. i. 515. 



