Botanical Notices from Spain^ 425 



chains which divide the province of Cordoba from Estremadura and 

 the Mancha, but still belong to the Sierra Morena. In this some- 

 what barren granite plain lie the towns of Pozo-Blanco and Hinojosa, 

 as well as a number of smaller places, for this part of the mountain- 

 chain is the most populated of all. At the baths of Fuencaliente, 

 much frequented on account of their hot mineral springs, begins a 

 mountain-chain consisting of several parallel chains, which is di- 

 stinguishable from a distance by its rugged, very rocky summits, 

 and stretches out in a north-western direction to beyond Almadea, 

 where it is divided by the valley of the Rio Zuja, a tributary of the 

 Guadiana, from another similarly formed mountain-chain which 

 goes in a south-westerly direction from the Zuja into the country of 

 La Granja in Estremadura, where it joins the graywacke chains of 

 Fuente Ovejuna. Both chains bound the above-mentioned granite 

 plain on the north-west and east, and consist of a peculiar white stone, 

 very hard and rich in quartz, which the Spaniards call Arenisca Cuar- 

 zosa (quartzose sandstone, but it is no true sandstone). This forma- 

 tion constitutes the highest mountains of the entire Sierra Morena. 



The vegetation of all these formations consists indeed, in their 

 principal features, of the same plants, but their distribution varies 

 remarkably in the different formations. Moreover almost every 

 formation possesses a number of plants peculiar to itself. To speak 

 generally, the flora of these formations is throughout the whole 

 mountain-range the same ; only in the western part a decided ten- 

 dency to the western flora of the peninsula of the Pyrenees is obser- 

 vable, as here a number of plants occur which are peculiar to Por- 

 tugal and Western Andalusia. The chief part of the vegetation of 

 the Sierra Morena is formed of trees and shrubs ; the herbaceous 

 vegetation is limited to a spring flora, as on account of the slight 

 elevation of this mountain- chain, the greatest part of these plants are 

 parched up from the month of July. Not until the autumn does the 

 herbaceous vegetation spring up anew, and then brings forth a num- 

 ber of bulbous plants, very uniformly distributed over the whole 

 range, as Squilla maritima, Steinhl., Scilla autumnalis, L., Leucojum 

 autumnale, L., Merendera Bulbocodium, Ker., smd Narcissus serotinus, 

 L., which last however only occurs in the southern part of the above- 

 mentioned chain, which stretches from Aracena southwards as far as 

 the sea. In the spring the whole of this range must present a very 

 variegated appearance, from the numerous flowering Cistinecc, Legu- 

 minosce, LahiatcB and Compositce, and in this season some new dis- 

 coveries may also perhaps be made in the families of the Liliaceae 

 and Orchidece, for the other herbaceous plants are, to judge from the 

 remains of the parched- up vegetation, common plants in the south 

 of Spain. I now proceed to a description of the vegetation in the 

 various formations. 



1. Graywacke formation* — This is entirely covered with a very 

 thick * monte bajo,' which, especially on the northern and eastern ac- 

 clivities of the river-valley, is extremely luxuriant. The principal 

 part of this shrub-vegetation is formed of the noble Cistus ladanifcrus, 

 L., which overspreads the Sierra Morena for a length of some fifty 



Ann. ^ Mag, N. Hist, Vol, xvii. 2 G 



