THE TORCH TREE. 

 By F. H. Knozvlton. 



THE May number of The Plant World contained an account of 

 the Elephant Tree, one of the botanical curiosities of the Pen- 

 insula of Southern California. Accompanying the Elephant 

 Tree, and in some respects even more peculiar, is the subject 

 of the present sketch, the Torch Tree, known hotQ.n\Qa.\\y a.s Fouquieria 

 columnaris. The genus Fouquieria belongs to the Tamarisk family 

 {Tamariscacecs), and is an anomalous group of four known species 

 occurring chiefly in Mexico and Lower California. 



The Torch Tree was discovered by Dr. J. A. Veatch, from whom 

 it will be remembered the Elephant Tree was named, in Lower Cali- 

 fornia in 1858, and was first described by Dr. A. Kellogg in Novem- 

 ber, 1859. It was later collected by C. R. Orcott, and in 1889 by T. S. 

 Brandegee. 



The Torch Tree grows erect to a "height of 25 to 50 feet, grad- 

 ually tapering from a base two or three feet in diameter to a pointed 

 top, and as it seldom branches, the shape is that of a huge inverted 

 carrot." The flowers grow at the top, and are said to be yellowish 

 and quite handsome. The plate illustrating this tree was made by 

 Mr. George P. Merrill in July, 1892, near El Rosario. The following 

 interesting account is given by him in the Proceedings of the U. S. 

 National Museum, recently issued: 



"Another striking form seen here for the first time is the Fou- 

 quieria columnaris, and which becomes more abundant on the inland 

 plateau. Although in greater dimensions (than the giant cactus), 

 some 40 feet in height and 15 to 18 inches in diameter at the base, 

 these strange forms were readily cut down with the back of my geo- 

 logical hammer, and showed in cross-section a structure not greatly 

 unlike that of our ordinary Eastern sunflower, in that they have a thin 

 exterior or rind of a greenish color, and an interior core of white pith- 

 like material. 



" The numerous branches, which are about the size of an ordinary 

 lead-pencil, pass directly through the hard, woody rind into the pith. 

 When the plant dies, the limbs fall out, the pith shrinks away and 

 decays, leaving the trunks in the form of collapsed cylinders full of 

 spirally-arranged perforations. These branches are very abundant, 

 and project uniformly in every direction, sometimes to a distance of 

 two feet or more. They are stiff, harsh, and thorny, and it was found 

 possible to gain access to the trunk without seriously tearing the 

 flesh only by turning up one's coat-collar, putting on gloves, bowing 



