WEEDS AND CULTIVATED PLANTS. 153 



great abundance and its wild fruit supplies a 

 grateful refreshment under the warm sun of 

 autumn. The almond and manna-ash grow wild 

 among the rocks, and the bay and Judas-tree in 

 the ravines. The orange and the lemon are 

 cultivated. Melons, cucumbers, sesame, maize, 

 cotton, capsicum, lentils, kidney-beans and balmias 

 {Hibiscus esculentus) are the common cultivated 

 vegetables. 



The wild herbs of the low country are many 

 and varied. The sandy sea-shore abounds in 

 species of Medicago, among which the hoary 

 foliage and yellow flowers of Medicago littoralis, 

 and the Lotus creticus, are conspicuous. Also 

 the horned poppy (Glaucium hdeum), the Hype- 

 coum, and the purple flowers of Malcomia. The 

 weeds of cultivated lands and waste grounds are 

 those of the south of Europe, and among them 

 the spurting cucumber (Momordica elaterium), 

 the Acanthus, and the Tribulus, especially attract 

 our attention. The green sward at one season 

 is gay with anemonies, at another with many 

 species of ranunculus. Numerous curious kinds 

 of Orchis and Ophrys, musk-hyacinths, asphodels 

 and star of Bethlehem adorn the plains, and 

 everywhere are prickly but gaily flowering herbs 



