Botanical Notices from Spain. 115 



chelium caruleum, L., which is also found in the low warm valleys of 

 the Sierra Nevada : from the rocks hang down the thorny branches 

 oi Capparis spinosa, L., mingled with Sedum amplexicaule, Boiss. ; and 

 in the moist grassy valleys, in the shade of willows and elms, is 

 frequently found Dorycnium rectum, Ser., Mentha rotundifolia, L., 

 Ly thrum Salicaria, L., Epilobium hirsutum, L., Retama sphcsrocarpa, 

 Boiss., and Chamcepeuce hispanica, DeC, which occurs in the Sierra 

 Nevada up to a height of 4500 feet. 



As soon as I had made all arrangements requisite to prolong my 

 stay in the Sierra Nevada, whose lofty mountains attracted me irre- 

 sistibly, I quitted Granada; and accompanied by a merry Andalusian, 

 who acted at once as servant, guide and assistant, as well as a ca- 

 pital beast of burden, I set out for the Cortijo de S. Geronimo, which 

 consists of a few scattered dwellings lying about 4500 feet above the 

 sea, the highest inhabited spot on the northern side of the mountain, 

 whose inhabitants still retain a clear recollection of Boissier. The 

 Sierra Nevada is, with the exception of the mountain-ridges which 

 enclose the valleys, almost wholly bare, and is even deficient for the 

 greater part in the 'Monte bajo,' which everywhere covers the Spanish 

 mountains. All the lower portion of the northern slope consists of 

 limestone, in part interrupted by a beautiful marble, which for in- 

 stance at S. Geronimo and Guejar forms immense rocks. In some 

 places are found traces of coal (for example at the north foot of the 

 Cerro Trevenque) and mines of mica (as on the southern slope of the 

 Dornajo) ; and on the Cerro Calal, at the village of Guejar, are still 

 found some lead-mines, which are now abandoned. I have however 

 not succeeded in finding any trace of fossils in the whole of this 

 limestone range. These limestone mountains rise to a height of 

 7000 to 7500 feet, and the highest and most interesting summits 

 are those of the mountains Dornajo, Cerro Tesoro and Cerro Treven- 

 que, in the neighbourhood of S. Geronimo. At S. Geronimo the 

 gneiss formation commences, which in the snow-region passes into 

 the micaceous slate and constitutes the highest chain of the Sierra, 

 whose highest peak is the Cerro Mulehacen (said to be 11,600 feet), 

 Picacho de Veleta (11,200 feet), Cerro Alcasava and Cerro Caballo. 

 The region which is scarcely to be termed that of eternal snow, 

 since every summer it melts, with the exception of some scattered 

 snow-fields (hitherto I have nowhere observed the glaciers of which 

 Boissier speaks), begins at about the height of 8500 to 9000 feet, 

 and is clearly distinguished by its geognostical nature as well as by 

 its highly peculiar vegetation from the lower regions. Traces of 

 iron are here found frequently. The alpine region commences at a 

 height of about 6000 feet, and the mountain region at 3500 feet. 

 The environs of the Cortijo de S. Geronimo, on the southern slope 

 of the magnificent alpine valley through which the rapid Monachil 

 takes its course, form those districts of the entire northern declivity 

 which abound most in water, and consequently in plants. The 

 northern ridge, enclosing the valley known by the name of the De- 

 hesa de S. Geronimo, whose highest slaty ridge rises to 8000 feet, 

 is especially remarkable for its arboraceous luxuriance, being almost 



