Many early-flowering plants were already withered, but we collected on the mountain several interesting species. Of two tall and very distinct _Resedas_ found here, one is also a native of Spain; the other, _R. elata_, of Cosson, was first gathered by M. Balansa, and seems to be confined to this district. Of another curious plant discovered by the same active naturalist we now first saw satisfactory specimens. It is at first sight scarcely to be distinguished from a species characteristic of the hot and dry region of North Africa—the _Cynara acaulis_ of Linnæus. The latter was discovered by Tilli, a Florentine physician, afterwards professor of botany at Pisa, who was called to Constantinople early in the last century to cure the favourite daughter of the Sultan. Being successful in his treatment, he received many tokens of favour, and seems to have made use of his opportunities to visit several parts of the Turkish Empire, and certainly travelled in the Regency of Tunis. The same plant was next seen by the English traveller, Thomas Shaw, who mentions it in the Appendix to his Travels published in 1738; and it was at last more fully described and well figured by Desfontaines in his excellent work, the _Flora Atlantica_. Decandolle, in attempting to reduce to order the vast mass of plants that belong to the natural order of _Compositæ_, clearly saw that this differed essentially from the genus _Cynara_ (of which the type is the common artichoke), and referred it first to _Serratula_, and finally to _Rhaponticum_; and it has hence been generally known as _Rhaponticum acaule_. Many botanists were somewhat startled to find in the _Genera Plantarum_ of Bentham and Hooker that the authors had united all the plants hitherto ranked under the generic name _Rhaponticum_ with _Centaurea_, a vast genus, containing species of the most varied aspect, of which nearly 300 are already known in the Mediterranean region. It was interesting to us to find that the new species discovered by Balansa, of which the foliage is quite undistinguishable from the old _Rhaponticum acaule_, is, as regards the flowering heads, intermediate in structure between that and recognised species of _Centaurea_, though nearer to the latter. If we had remembered Shaw’s statement, that the roots of his _Cynara acaulis_ have an agreeable flavour, and are eaten by the Arabs in some parts of Africa, we should certainly have tried whether the species are also similar in this respect. During the ascent of the mountain we had passed near a little hamlet, containing eight or ten houses of the poorest class; but the laws of native hospitality required that refreshments should be offered to the strangers, and on the way back a halt was called. The _mona_ consisted of eggs, wheaten cakes, butter, and milk, which were speedily despatched; and we added to our collections a curious biennial variety of _Rumex vesicarius_, having the membranous wings enclosing the fruit of a bright rose red.