BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 439 



might he descried six leagues off, had exerted an advanta- 

 geous influence on the Posada of Estepona, I found every 

 thing well managed and beautifully neat. 



I prepared for the ascent of the Sierra Bermeja next day, 

 particularly eager to explore it, because I wished to gather a 

 pine, of which I had observed a fruitless branch in the her- 

 barium of M. Hanselaer, at Malaga, and which had appeared 

 to me an undescribed species. All the people of Estepona 

 knew it under the name of Pinsapo, and told me that the tree 

 is constantly used in religious processions and festivities, be- 

 cause its foliage is elegant, and the branches being placed at 

 right angles, even to the last ramifications, present the form 

 of so many crosses and crosslets. They pointed out the woods 

 that consist of this tree, discernible from the town, even so 

 high as the summit of the Sierra, by their dark green hue, 

 contrasting with the pale and lively transparent verdure of 

 Pinus pinaster, clothing the lower slopes. 



To reach the foot of the mountain, it is necessary to climb 

 over a succession of small vineyard-covered hills furrowed by 

 long ravines, which rain-water and streams have formed in its 

 "ght and shifting soil. The situation is warm, and I noticed 

 several fine plants, especially Umbellifens, but deferred their 

 examination till the following day. About 1000 feet up, the 

 V1 ne disappeared, and was succeeded by lovely bushes of 

 Cistus ladaniferus, covered with large snowy flowers, as big 

 as hedge-roses. The leaves and branches of this shrub are 

 imbued with a clammy aromatic substance, which scents the 

 atmosphere and is much prized in Spain for curing wounds ; 

 while the deep but rich verdure of its foliage recalled the Alp- 

 r ose, or Rhododendron of Switzerland. Erica umbellata and 

 several other heaths in blossom, as E. scoparia and arborea, 

 and our own Calluna, adorned the ground. Rather higher, 

 at the very base of the Sierra, we reached a grove, consisting 

 °/ Quercus Suber and Q. Lusitanica, intermingled with a 

 fev * Pinasters. There, amid Myrtles, Arbutus, and Cistus y 

 grew many strange, and to me unknown, species, the most 

 c onspicuo US being, assuredly, Digitalis laciniata, bearing a 



