IIAMBLE IN THE N. OF SPAIN. 121 



apparently to little profit, divided by banks adorned with a few- 

 bushes — a sort of rudimentary hedge. Here I procured Tragopo- 

 gon crocifoliuSj whose flowers, half yellow and half purple, were 

 very conspicuous ; Achillea nohilis, Senecio Doronicwm, and Thapsia 

 villosa just coming into flower ; Smyrnium perfoUatvm, Arenaria 

 grandiflora^Rapistrum rugosum, Hypericum hyssopifolium^Coronilla 

 coronata, Vicia onohrychoides, Teucrium Polium, Stachys IIeraclea\ 

 another Stachys, whose name I have not determined, which re- 

 sembles >S'. recta in habit, but is sufficiently distinguished by its 

 numerous flowers (15 to 20 in a whorl), and by the floral leaves 

 all exceeding the flowers ; Sideritis scordioides, Salvia ^thiopis, 

 Cynoglossum cheirifolium, Aristolochia rotunda, Asphodelus ramo- 

 sus. Allium roseum, and Echinaria capitata. A variety of Genista 

 hispanica with soft spines, Prunus Mahaleh, Arenaria montana, 

 Qeraniu/irn sylvaticum, Trollius europceus, Bihes grossularia with 

 fruit hardly larger than a currant, Crepis paludosa, and Finguicula 

 grandiflora, grow on some hills a little farther to the south, where 

 there is an ancient wood of oak and beech. Some of the trees are 

 very large, but the best have been lately cut down for the use of 

 the railroad. 



There is a morning train from E-einosa at half-past six, reaching 

 Pozazal at six minutes past seven, returning in the evening by 

 that place at thirty-one minutes past eight, and arriving at Eeinosa 

 at nine. A botanist may therefore very conveniently fix his head- 

 quarters at E/cinosa to visit the neighbourhood of Pozazal, or even 

 of the two following stations, where I did not stop, and where, as 

 seen from the railroad, there is no very promising locality. The 

 station for Aguilar is about two miles from the town ; but this, 

 with its picturesque castle and varied neighbourhood, would seem 

 to be well worth a visit, perhaps a lengthened one, especially if 

 the botanist should be tempted to visit some very bold snowy and 

 craggy mountains visible from the railroad in that direction. I 

 must observe that these notes on Spanish botany apply only to 

 the plants of the lower country. I did not attempt to scale any 

 mountain ; but the Sierras Albas, which are visible from about 

 Santander, always retaining a considerable body of snow, and 

 those still more abrupt ones behind Aguilar, cannot but offer a 

 number of interesting plants. Mountains said to be still more 

 lofty occur farther west, in the Asturias. 



About two miles from the station at Aguilar, on emerging from 

 a very short tunnel, we find a village called Villa Escusa. Unfor- 

 tunately the train does not stop there ; but I was indebted to 



