106 BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



named Nirara, in order to make a swing for whom his mother broke off a piece 

 of the granite cliff, and cast it across a chasm between two peaks. From this 

 lofty bridge she hung her infant's swing cradle." 



N. asarifolius, Balf. fil. loc. cit. Tab. VII, A. 



Suffrutex parvus caulibus tortuosis foliorum demissorum baseis incrassatis tubcrculatis. Folia 

 If poll, longa radiatim venulosa supra glabra nitentia subtus glanduloso-punctulata ; 

 petiolus \- £ poll, longus basi incrassatus sublignosus. Bractcce ovata?. Pedicelli ^ poll 

 longi. Fntctus \ poll, longus \ poll, latus. 



Nom Vern. Dbehoma (B.C.S.). 



Socotra. Near the summit of Sicante, north from Tamarida, at 4000 feet 

 elevation. B.C.S. n. 440. 



Distrib. Endemic. 



A sweetly aromatic plant, exhibiting a strong tendency to form tricarpellary 

 fruits. 



3. CAKUM. 



Carum, Linn. Gen. n. 365 ; Benth. et Hook. Gen. PI. i. 890. 



A considerable genus, chiefly found in temperate and subtropical regions of 

 the old world, but some species occur in America. Both Socotran species are 

 endemic, and belong to a section of the genus spread through the Mediter- 

 ranean region, Central Asia, India, and South Africa. 



1. C. (Trachyspermum) pimpinelloides, Balf. fil. in Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin. 

 xi. (1882), 514. 



Glabrescens diffusum ; foliis petiolatis tripartitis. segmentis in lacinias lanceolatas acutas 

 1-2-trifidis ; umbellis breviter pedunculitis oppositifoliis 5-8-radiatis ; bracteis 5-7 ; 

 pedicellis 5-7 validis ; fructu oblongo v. suborbiculari, jugis prominulis glabris v. hispidis, 

 commissura multo constricta. 



Herba pusilla vix \ V e &- alta diffusa a basi ramosissima caulibus parurn striatis primum sparsim 

 pubernlis demum glabris. Folia inferiora longe petiolata 1 poll, longa in segmenta trifida 

 v. bifida I poll, longa tripartita v. bitripartita, superiora minora tripartita segmentis trifidia 

 laciniis lanceolatis acutis, glabrescentia ; petiolus basi expansus amplexicaulis vagina 

 ciliata. Umbcllm terminales oppositifolue (pedunculis 1\ poll, longis) 5-8-radiata3 radiis 

 brevibus vix \ poll, longis ; bractese involucri angustse lineari -lanceolate 5-7 persistentes 

 herbaceae puberulo-ciliatie radiis sequilongse ; pedicelli angulati validi 5-8 in fructu breves 

 vix fructui tequilongi; bracteolaa pedicellis multo breviores. Petala ciliata acumine bifido 

 staminibus breviora. Fructus oblongus et glaber v. elliptico-orbicularis cum jugis promin- 

 ulis undulatis hispidis, vittis solitariis, commissura angusta valde constricta, stylis deflexis 

 longis, stylopodio conico. 



Socotra. On the shore between Kadhab and Galonsir. B.C.S. nn. 367, 

 459, 504. 



Distrib. Endemic. 



