218 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



the middle of the island, only three trees that were not quite 

 dead; and on these three, only a few tufts of green twigs gave 

 the feeble sign of nearly exhausted vitality. Only on a 

 southeastern cliff, hanging over the sea, did I find a tree 

 vigorous enough to be bearing some well formed fruit. It 

 is possible that a succession of very dry years may have 

 wrought this havoc among these arboreal products of Gua- 

 dalupe. Whether this be the cause or not there is, however, 

 no one to tell us; but, at all events, the botanist on Guada- 

 lupe ten years hence, will hardly be likely to find this juni- 

 per surviving for enumeration on the list of living plants. 

 The other forest trees of the island are a good sized pine, 

 some groves of which adorn a considerable length of that 

 very high and narrow ridge which makes the northeastern 

 extremity of land, and an oak, of which there are not to 

 exceed a half dozen individuals. The pine resemble aPinus 

 insignia, or " Monterey Pine," but has smoother cones, and 

 its leaves are in pairs instead of threes. It is otherwise the 

 same, and was named by the late Dr. Engelmann P. insignis 

 var. binata. The oak is a large, very handsome tree, with, 

 rounded head, large, dark evergreen leaves, and acorns 

 larger than in perhaps any other species. It does not in 

 any way resemble, as a tree, our Quercus chrysolepis of Cali- 

 fornia, with which Dr. Engelmann would have compared it: 

 but it has been published as distinct, under the name of Q. 

 tomentella, Engelm. 



The climate of Guadalupe appears to be colder in winter 

 than that of the coast regions of even the central part of Cal 

 ifornia, a circumstance owing, no doubt, to its lying more 

 directly in the path of winds and currents that come down 

 from arctic seas; and yet there flourishes in the canons a tall 

 and handsome palm, which bears an edible fruit, and is the 

 sole product of the island which looks tropical. The herba- 

 ceous vegetation, consisting chiefly of annual species, must 

 vary greatly in both quantity and variety in different years, 

 according as the winter rains are scant or copious. The 



