FLORA OF ADEN. 
Ill 
Reseda lurida Muell.-Arg. Monogr. Resed. p. 152, tab. 7, fig. 106. 
Reseda quartiniana A. Ricb. Tent. FI. Abyss. I, 13. 
Description : — A branching herb, subpruinose. Stem perennial, stri- 
ate, angular. Leaves mostly entire, (the upper ones very rarely trifid), 
ovate-lanceolate, acute at both ends, attenuate into the petiole, 2-inches 
long, 3 lines — J inch broad. 
Flowers small, spikate ; bracts long-subulate, deciduous; pedicels as 
long or longer than, the calyx. Sepals 6, unequal, linear, deciduous. 
Petals 5, the two larger ones 5 — 10-parfcite, the 3 smaller ones bipartite 
or entire. 
Capsules obovate, obtusely tridentate, truncate. Seeds minute, reni- 
form, black, punctate. 
Flowers and fruits from March to December (Schweinf .) . 
Locality : — Ubique, on basaltic rocks, forming shrubs 3 — feet high 
(Schweinf.); very common in all the valleys and on rubbish at the foot of 
the mountain, plain of Maala (Defl.) ; on the seashore (Edgew-, Hook., 
Madden, Schomburgk, Harvey, Anders.); in the great valley between 
Steamer Point and town (Marchesetti); gravelly slope near the town 
(Busse); without locality (Birdw., Kuntze). 
Distribution : — S. Arabia, highlands of Somaliland, Eritrea, Abyssinia. 
Note It is doubtful whether Reseda amblyocarpa Fresen. constitutes 
a separate species, or whether it should be united with Reseda pruinosa 
Del. We do not think it is possible to decide the question by examining 
a few herbarium specimens. Oliver, Krause, and others have done the 
same with different results. Careful observations on the spot and examina- 
tion of a greater number of plants are absolutely required. In order to 
draw the attention to some of the disputed points we consider it advisable 
to acquaint future visitors at Aden with the views expressed by some 
botanists. 
Anderson writes in his Florida >, p. 6 : <( After a careful examination 
of the species of Reseda in the Hookerian Herbarium, and the study of 
Mueller’s elaborate monograph of the order, I can find no character, 
except the nature of the seeds, to separate this species from R» pruinosa i 
Del., or R. Ancheri and R. bracteata , Boiss., which seem to be merely 
varieties of RApruinosa. 
te Having made numerous dissections of all the species allied to R. 
pruinosa, Del., I am convinced that no specific character of the slight- 
est value can be obtained from the number of the divisions or the shape 
of the petals. I consider R. amblyocarpa^ Fresen., to be probably dis- 
tinct from R. pruinosa , Del., and its varieties, — 'from its having a peren- 
nial stock, almost always entire leaves, a larger and denser spike, smaller 
flowers, and a slightly different capsule containing much smaller, blaok 
