582 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and caps the tops, flowering profusely from November to May, with 

 umbels of large golden-yellow flowers. Arum italicum, with large arrow- 

 shaped leaves and pale green spathes with yellowish spadices, forms 

 clumps by sides of walls or in waste places, as old quarries, associated 

 with the three kinds of Nettles, one being our English Urtica pilulifera. 

 Here may also be seen large masses of our commonly cultivated species, 

 the yellow Chrysanthemum coronarium ; and of Smyrnium Olusatrum, 

 the umbelliferous ' Alexanders.' 



2. The Wieds. — These supply some of the choicest plants. Besides 

 shrubs, one meets with the evergreen Honeysuckle. Ferula communis, 

 with large, anuch dissected leaves, sometimes cultivated in English 

 gardens, under the name of Giant Fennel, as well as two varieties of the 

 true Fennel, one with short spiny leaf-segments, are common ; as also the 

 handsome Acanthus mollis, the leaf of which suggested the ornamentation 

 of the Corinthian capital. Large masses of red Snapdragon grow out of 

 the rocks, as well as a yellow and white flowering species. Several 

 species of Euphorbia abound (Malta has about twenty in all) ; while in 

 two valleys yellow Tulips, Tulipa sylvestris, are abundant. The rocky 

 sides of the wieds abound with clumps of white-flowered Asphodel, 

 A. racemosus, Narcissus Tazetta, and numerous species of Orchids. 



The fleshy-leaved Centaurea crassifolia, the only species of any plant 

 peculiar to the Maltese islands, occurs in the rocky sides of Wied Babu. 

 Of climbing plants, Ivy is ubiquitous. Smilax aspera and evergreen 

 Honeysuckle are common, as well as the wild Madder, Bubia percgrina ; 

 several species of Convolvulus, as the large-flowered, rose-coloured 

 C. althceoides. In one valley I found Iris germanica, the purple species 

 of Flag, familiar to Londoners, and the English I. fcetidissima. Psoralen 

 bituminosa, a strong-smelling leguminous plant with purple flowers, forms 

 low scrambling masses. On the rocky sides where earth accumulates, as 

 well as on the more open uncultivated areas, numerous Orchids are to be 

 found, Ophrys fusca, bombyliflora, and aranifera being the commonest 

 of this genus, and Orchis pyramidalis, saccata, and fragrans of the 

 latter. Lastly, of Ferns, Adiantum Capillus -Veneris and Gymno- 

 gramme leptophylla occur in moist and shady crevices in the rocks and 

 walls. This last is found in Jersey, but not in England. 



3. Uncultivated Rocky Surfaces. — Trees and shrubs are here 

 entirely wanting, the rocks being partly flat and smooth, partly weather- 

 worn into a hummocky surface. Here are to be seen abundantly the 

 Medicinal Squill, Urginea Scilla, their large bulbs nestling in holes in 

 the rock. Clumps of Asphodel and Narcissus Tazetta abound where 

 earth has accumulated. In certain places, as near the end of St. Paul's 

 Bay, a strong-smelling Rue, Ruta chalepensis, is abundant. Numerous 

 leguminous plants, many remarkable for their curiously-shaped pods, as 

 species of Medicago, Astragalus, Hippocrepis, Scorpiurus, as well as of 

 Trifolium, Melilotus, and Lotus, occur. Sedam cceruleum with azure- 

 coloured flowers, forms masses between the rocks. A yellow flax, Litium 

 strictum, a sweet-scented Orchis, 0. fragrans, a tiny composite about an 

 inch in height, Eoax pygnuea, are very common. On the exposed slopes 

 of the fortifications there are a small Buttercup (Ranunculus bullatus), the 



