146 Plants of Baja California. [ ZOE 
inally collected by Dr. Palmer on Guadaloupe Island, and he has 
since found it on Cerros Island. 
FOUQUIERIA COLUMNARIS is certainly a queer looking tree. It is 
often hollow within and becomes a convenient hive for wild bees. — 
The honey bee is slowly traveling southward in Lower California 
and is now more than half way down toward Cape St. Lucas. 
SIDA XANTI opens its flowers in the afternoon and so also does 
Abutilon Californicum and some other Malvacee; they are very com- 
mon in the Cape region and their numerous blossoms add much to 
the beauty of the afternoon flora, compensating for the Ipomzas 
closed by the hot sun. 
PROSOPIS JULIFLORA ‘‘mesquit’’ affords much food for horses 
and cattle in the middle latitudes of the Peninsula. On our long 
overland journey in 1889 two mules that had acquired a bad habit 
of straying away even when *‘ hobbled,’’ were usually tied at night 
to a mesquit tree so that they could eat the leaves and tender twigs 
from the lower branches, or sometimes the boughs were cut for 
_ them; and although they lived at times entirely upon this, at the end 
of a long journey of two or three months, they appeared as fat and 
strong as the well behaved animals that were allowed more liberty 
and consequently had a greater choice of food. The mesquit trees 
are highly valued by the cattle men for the food they furnish their 
stock. 
CASALPINIA PULCHERRIMA, “‘tabachin,”’ is found only as a cul- 
tivated plant. It is very handsome and showy, especially when in 
bloom, its mass of color visible at a great distance. Its large 
leaves made up of many leaflets are graceful and its red and 
yellow flowers are magnificent; it grows tall enough to overtop the 
fences and hedges and is certainly an ornament to the gardens of — 
San José del Cabo. 
CRESCENTIA ALATA, a queer looking garden tree is planted for 
the gourd-like fruit which is credited with medicinal properties. 
This fruit is about four inches in diameter and when used, is filled 
with “mescal’’ through a hole made at one end, then persons im-— 
agining themselves affected with chest diseases drink out the liquor 
from time to time expecting to become cured. 
Another cultivated tree about the Cape is the cocoanut palm. 
The palms are the tallest trees in San José and the leaves of the © 
cocoanut palm growing out more nearly horizontal than those of 
