KA.MBLE IN THE K. OF SPAIN. 117 







Briza maxima also invite our attention. Continuing my walk, I 

 found in a cornfield Cephalaria syriaca. The almost sessile heads, 

 and those" on long stalks, on which DeCandolle founds two va- 

 rieties, sometimes occur in the same plant ; and he does not notice 

 the very prolonged receptacle, which is a striking character. Sed^m 

 Cepcea also occurs in this walk, Tolpis harlata, Ficridium vulgar e, 

 and Adiantum Gapillus Veneris, which however I did not see. 



The land forming the north side of the harbour of Santander 

 terminates in a peninsula, and an island on which they are now 

 building a lighthouse. The peninsula is composed of limestone 

 rock, a large portion of which is covered by sand-hills. I expected 

 to find here the plants which abound on the sand-hills at Biarritz, 

 but the best are wanting. Those observed there which I have 

 not already noticed were Dianthus gallicus, Medicago striata, Her- 

 niaria glabra, Fulicaria odora, Linaria supina, Scrophularia 

 canina, Veronica prostrata, and Sclerochloa Triticttm, Another 

 set of sand-hills between this peninsula and the present light- 

 house afibrds Artemisia crithmifolia and its parasite Orohanche 

 arenaria, and Allium sphcBrocephalum. There is a large extent of 

 sand-hills on the opposite side of the mouth of the harbour, which 

 are heaped up to a considerable height above the limestone rock ; 

 they offer every step of the progress from loose blowing sand to 

 a close covering of turf, but I found hardly anything which I had 

 not previously noticed. There was one bush of Cistus salvifolius. 

 I had expected to find Spain full of Cistus ; but this plant, another 

 at Las Caldas, and one or two others, all of the same species, at 

 Bilbao, were all that I saw of the genus. Juncus acutus is very 

 abundant on these sands, and I got Arahis ciliata, Medicago ma- 

 rina, jSHtheorhiza bullosa, Cynoglossum pictum, Plantago montana, 

 and in a moist spot Lastrcea Thelypteris. 



I have still a few gleanings of the country near Santander. On 

 the shores of the Bay of Biscay I found Linaria grceca. On the 

 road towards Burgos, which sets off" westward instead of eastward 

 from Santander to get round the head of the harbour, there is a 

 range of hills on a base of limestone : I visited it twice. They 

 present a remarkable feature, which also prevails among those 

 towards the lighthouse : it is the frequent occurrence of conical 

 depressions or craters, which one might fancy to be volcanic, did 

 the nature of the soil permit such a supposition. They are of 

 different sizes, mostly filled up with trees or brushwood, and often 

 ranging in lines, which seem to occupy the position of a con- 

 K tinuous vallev. The woods on these hills abound in Arbutus, 



I 



