VOL. III. | flora of the Cape Region. 225 
and one time of drought, when none fell upon the low lands during 
more than thirty months, made a lasting impression on the inhabit- 
ants. . 
_ During the dry season most of the vegetation is in a state of rest, 
many of the bushes or small trees are leafless, the annuals have 
disappeared and the dry stalks of herbaceous perennials mark the 
place from which a new growth will rapidly appear after the first 
summer rain. This region is usually spoken of by travelers who 
have sailed along its Pacific Coast and rounded the rocky promon- 
tory of Cabo San Lucas, as a forbidding and barren country, and 
so it is until the summer rains bring life to the vegetation. Residents ~ 
of a temperate climate, where the change from winter to summer is 
gradual and the fullness of vegetable life is not reached until the 
first warmth of spring has become the heat of summer, cannot real- 
ize the sudden change that comes over a tropical region, when at 
the hottest time of the year heavy rains cause immediately every 
leaf to appear and every bud to grow. 
The Cape Region is quite thickly covered with large bushes and 
small trees with an abundance of climbing and twining plants using 
them for supports. These altogether sometimes become so dense.that 
it is impossible to ride or walk between them, and to go through 
them is usually not to be thought of on account of the spines and 
thorns. 
The most conspicuous plants of the lower elevations on account 
of their abundance, their size and the showiness of their flowers are: 
Fouquieria spinosa, Sida Xanti, Abutilon Xanti, Hibiscus ribifolius, 
Esenbeckia flava, Cardiospermum Halicacabum, Mimosa Xantt, 
Lysiloma candida, Calliandra Californica, Acacia filicina, Cereus 
Pringlei, pecten-aboriginum, gummosus c& Thurberi, Dysodia spe- 
ciosa, Viguiera deltoidea & tomentosa, Bebbia atriplicifolia, Plumiera 
aculifolia, Ibom@ea aurea, Calophanes peninsularis, Beloperone Calt- 
fornica, Justicia Palmeri, Hyptis tephrodes & lanifolia, Antigonum 
leptopus, Yucca baccata, and others that perhaps deserve mention, 
The Burseras are very abundant and well distributed throughout 
the region, but their flowers are insignificant although the fruit is 
somewhat conspicuous; and equally deserving of notice, for similar 
reasons are Karwinskia, Cyrtocarpa, Pithecolobium flexicaule, Al- 
bizzia, and Jbomea bracteata. Other plants are extremely abundant 
in certain localities, and some are confined to small areas where they 
