VOL. III.] Flora of the Cape Region. ii<^ 



and one time of drought, when none fell upon the low lands during 

 more than thirty months, made a lasting impression on the inhabit- 

 ants. 



During the dry season most of the vegetation is in a state of rest, 

 many of the bushes or small trees are leafless, the annuals have 

 disappeared and the dry stalks of herbaceous perennials mark the 

 place from which a new growth will rapidly appear after the first 

 summer rain. This region is usually spoken of by travelers who 

 have sailed along its Pacific Coast and rounded the rocky promon- 

 tory of Cabo San Lucas, as a forbidding and barren country, and 

 so it is until the summer rains bring life to the vegetation. Residents 

 of a temperate climate, where the change from winter to summer is 

 gradual and the fullness of vegetable life is not reached until the 

 first warmth of spring has become the heat of summer, cannot real- 

 ize the sudden change that comes over a tropical region, when at 

 the hottest time of the year heavy rains cause immediately every 

 leaf to appear and every bud to grow. 



The Cape Region is quite thickly covered with large bushes and 

 small trees with an abundance of climbing and twining plants using 

 them for supports. These altogether sometimes become so dense that 

 it is impossible to ride or walk between them, and to go through 

 them is usually not to be thought of on account of the spines and 

 thorns. 



The most conspicuous plants of the lower elevations on account 

 of their abundance, their size and the showiness of their flowers are: 

 Fouquieria spinosa, Sida Xanli, Abidilon Xanti, Hibiscus ribif alius, 

 Eseiibeckia flava, Cardiospermtim Halicacabuni, Mimosa Xanti, 

 Lysiloma Candida, Calliandra Californica, Acacia filicina, Cereus 

 Pringlei, pccten-aboriginuni , gum^nosus & Thurberi, Dysodia spe- 

 ciosa, Viguiera deltoidea & tomentosa, Bebbia atriplicifolia, Phaniera 

 acuiifolia, IpomcEa aurea, Calophanes pe7iinsularis , Beloperone Cali- 

 fornica, Justicia Palmeri, Hyptis tephrodes & lanifolia, Antigomcm 

 leptopus, Yucca baccata, and others that perhaps deserve mention. 

 The Burseras are very abundant and well distributed throughout 

 the region, but their flowers are insignificant although the fruit is 

 somewhat conspicuous; and equally deserving of notice, for similar 

 reasons are Karwinskia, Cyrtocarpa, Pithecolobiuni Jlexicaule, Al- 

 bizzia, and Ipomcsa bracteata. Other plants are extremely abundant 

 in certain localities, and some are confined to small areas where they 



