176 BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



more delicate plant, with a closely fastigiate habit. It is essentially a plant 

 of dry spots. 



2. ERYTHEMA. 

 Erythrcm. L. C. Rich, in Pers. Synops. i. 283 ; Benth. et Hook. Gen. PL ii. 809. 



A small genus of variable herbs, characteristic of north temperate and 

 subtropical regions, but some occur within the tropics, and extend even to Chili 

 and Australasia. 



E. Centaurium, Pers. Synops. i. 283 ; Griseb. in DC. Prod. ix. 58 ; 

 Boiss Flor. Orient, iv. 68 ; Syme Eng. Bot. t. 909. 



Socotra. Abundant on the hill slopes. B.C.S. n. 286. 



Distrib. Europe, north Africa, and south-west Asia. Very widely spread. 



Order XLYIII. BORAGINE^. 



A very large family widely dispersed over the world. The Socotran 

 members of the family are referable to five genera, of which one is endemic, 

 three are genera inhabiting the warmer regions of both old and new worlds, — 

 one of them also reaching into temperate latitudes, — whilst the fifth is African 

 and Asiatic, extending in one species to Australia. 



1. COEDIA. 



Gordia, Linn. Gen. n. 256 ; Benth. et Hook. Gen. PI. ii. 838. 



A large genus of about two hundred species of trees and shrubs spread 

 throughout the warmer regions of the globe, but most abundant in America. 

 Two of the Socotran species are endemic, and the third is a plant of south-west 

 Asia and north-west Africa. 



1. C. obovata, Balf. fil. in Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin. xii. (1883), 80. 



Arborea ; foliis petiolatis obovatis v. oblongo-obovatis apice obtusis et dentato-crenatis basi 

 cuneatis subtus subscabridulis supra tuberculatis ; cymis paucifloris terminalibus ; 

 pedicellis validis brevissimis ; floribus mediocris 4-fidis ; calyce enervio extus dense 

 pubescente sub fructu cupukefornii glabro ; corolla omnino glabra ; fructu aurantiaco 

 ovoideo 1-3-loculari. 



Arbor parva cortice griseo ramulisque ultimis pubescentibus sed in plantis juvenilibus hispidis 

 Folia petiolata obovata v. oblongo-obovata v. subelliptica, juvenilia saepe subrhomboidea, 

 obtusa saepe subtruncata v. rarissime subacuta margine in parte superiore dentato-crenata 

 v. acute dentata a medio ad basim integra cuneato-attenuata basi iruequilateralia 2-3 

 poll, longa 1-1^ poll, lata v. majora glabrescentia supra tuberculis albis vestita subtus 

 pallidiora substrigulosa v. hispida v. subscabridula, petiolo concolore £- § poll, longo supra 

 canaliculate strigoso glabrescente. Gemmae axillares pubescente-tomentosae. Cymcc 

 terminales pauciflorae parvae densae ; pedicelli brevissimi validi. Flores mediocri. Calyx 

 enervius nonsulcatus \ poll, longus dentatus intus sericeo-villosus extus dense pubesc- 



