F.IXJK OF 111 I'. COLORADO DKSERT 2TI 



east, the Salton Sea, In Full \iew, lies in the midst of a desert 

 that abuts upon the mountains so sharply that they seem like 

 a boundary wall. On this side, to he sure, as on the other, 

 the forest still occupies the peaks, but the chaparral zone be- 

 low has been narrowed to a width of perhaps six miles, in 

 contrast ^^■itll the forty miles or more which it occupies on 

 the seaward slope, and it is succeeded, as far as appears from 

 this \-iew point, almost with the sharpness of a surveyor's 

 line, by the brown hillsides and the low and scanty \-egetation 

 of the desert. 



Faking now the way eastward toward the desert, where 

 the Imperial road begins to descend from Julian to Banner, 

 the abrupt change in the landscape is so striking that it can 

 hardly fail to attract the attention of the most casual ob- 

 server. Behind are the open grassy fields with their fine 

 growth of pines, oaks, and manzanita, but as we advance to 

 the eastward the pines and oaks cease at once, except for a 

 few small indi^'iduals, the manzanita becomes dwarfed, reach- 

 ing hardly a meter in height, and takes its place as one of the 

 constituents of a dense chaparral in which scrub oak (Qiwrciis 

 ditmosa), chamisal {Adcuostonia fasciciihitum) , and several 

 species of Ccaiiolhus are conspicuous. 



The road follows the right side of a deep canyon, des- 

 cending i,^oo ft. in the first five miles of its course. The 

 steep side of the canyon along which the road winds has a 

 northerly exposure and is close enough to the opposite side 

 to admit of obser\ation of the influence of aspect on vegeta- 

 tion at this point. The density and variety of the chaparral 

 on this northern slope is noticeable. In a leisurely walk there 

 were found species of Hclcromeles, Ccrcocarpiis, Luiiicfm, 

 Ccrcis, Clcmalis, Eri^cro)i, Rerheris, Rhus, Pentstemou, 

 Primus, .1 riciiiisid, DcudroiiWiOii, Clirysouui, Rhuunuis, Sain- 

 h/ic/is, Adi'iioslouici, and e\en a Nephrodhim , and in hollows 

 or arroyos willows and cottonwoods with well developed 

 black and canyon oaks. On the left side, facing the south, 

 only a few rods away, the chaparral is lower and far less 



