ME. BUNBUKY ON THE BOTANY OF TENERIFFE. 



27 



Cruz. As the climate is less dry, and more temperate, so the 

 vegetation, even in the lower region, has less of an African aspect, 

 and reminds us rather more of Madeira and of Southern Europe. 

 Some of the characteristic plants, which stamp the flora of the 

 south-eastern coast with its most marked peculiarities, are either 

 wanting or rare about Orotava. The Kleinia and the Euphorbia 

 piscatoria, indeed, are abundant, but the Euphorbia Canariensis 

 occurs only in a few places on the sea-cliffs *, and the Plocama I 

 saw nowhere but near Icod de los Vinos. Some of the most cha- 

 racteristic plants of the coast near Orotava are, the beautiful little 

 Erankenia ericifolia, Stat ice pectinata, Paronychia Canariensis, 

 Crithmum maritimum, Lotus sessilifolius, Artemisia argentea, and a 

 glaucous-leaved JPyrethrum. Argemone Mexicana, a wanderer from 

 the tropics (within which it appears to be very widely diffused), 

 grows on the sea-shore at the mouth of the Barranco Buiz, near 

 S. Juan de la Eambla, and more abundantly at Garachico. 



The great abundance of Date Palms in the valley of Orotava 

 and some of the other valleys of that coast, forms a striking feature 

 in the landscape, and distinguishes it particularly from the scenery 

 of Madeira, where there are comparatively very few of these trees. 

 The Phoenix, however, does not appear to be indigenous to Tene- 

 riffe, as it is to the islands of Canaria and Palma. The JDraccena 

 is a scarcely less conspicuous feature in the scenery of Orotava, 

 but although it is ascertained to be indigenous to the island of 

 Teneriffe, almost all the trees which occur in this valley are evi- 

 dently cultivated. 



The famous Dragon-tree of Villa de Orotava, so well known 

 through Humboldt's description, is still in existence ; a ruin indeed, 

 but a noble ruin. Its foliage is still fresh and vigorous, but the 

 tree has been much shattered, and has lost many branches within 

 the last few years, and a gentleman who has long known it is of 

 opinion that it will not last another century. By my measure- 

 ment, the part that remains entire of the trunk is 30 feet round, 

 that is, from edge to edge of the hollow ; and the width across the 

 hollow is 12 feet. This measurement was taken at 8^ feet above 

 the roots. I measured another Dragon-tree, a flourishing and 

 comparatively young one, which stands beside a convent at Eealejo 

 de Arriba, and found the circumference of the trunk to be 14 feet 

 4 inches, at 4 feet from the ground. There is a still finer one at 

 Icod de los Vinos. 



The remarkable ravines, or JBarrancos, which are most charac- 

 * Particularly near La Paz, a little way to the east of the Puerto de Orotava. 



