VOL. III.] Flora of the Cape Region. 227 



the orchids and ferns, etc., belonging in general to a more southern 

 fiora than those of the spring. 



Amongst the plants growing at lower elevation are the following 

 that flower in the springtime: Sisyvibriun crenaium, Atamisquea, 

 Abidiloji Californicicm, Vitis, Sapindus, Lupinus, Erythrina, Ccesal- 

 pmia placida, Prosopis, Acacia Farnesiana and Wrig/itii, Lysiloma, 

 Pitliecolobiuvi Mexicamim, Cotyledon, Lythrum, Mamillaria, Ce- 

 reus pecten-aborigimon, Pringlei, ScJiottii dXiA TJiurberi, Diodia cras- 

 sifolia, Eryngium, Hofmeisteria, PlucJiea odorafa, Bicddleia crolo- 

 noides, Samoliis ebracteatus, Phacelia, Nama, Eiipliotbia Xanli and 

 two or three Agaves. This collection of names, unlike that of the 

 mountain spring-blooming plants, does not remind one of a north- 

 ern flora. It might be expected that Lupinus. Lythrum, Samolus, 

 Phacelia, and Nama, would blossom in the spring, but that habit 

 does not seem fit for such semi-tropical genera as Lysiloma, Ery- 

 thrina, Albizzia, Pithecolobium, etc. 



It is often impossible to decide with certainty whether a plant is 

 native, or whether it should be considered an immigrant recently 

 introduced by the agency of man. Conocarpus, for instance, is a 

 rare bush of the southern shores and belongs to the maritime 

 flora of tropical climates, a flora represented along the coast by 

 several species of plants but, though probably derived from the 

 south, does not belong to the class generally meant by " introduced 

 plants." 



The weeds of the fields and trails, certainly derived from other 

 regions, are: Malva borealis, Brassica nigra, Melilotus parviflora, 

 Momordica charaniia, XaniJiium stnmiariiint, Sonchiis oleraceiis, 

 Polygon2iin acre, Desmodiiim scorpiurtis, and there are others more 

 common; the universally distributed weeds of towns and cultivated 

 grounds, that are not so evidently introduced, these are: Portulaca 

 oleracea, Sida rhomb if olia. Cassia Absus & Tora, Mollugo verticillata 

 & cerviana, Richardia, Amarantus, and Euphorbia. 



Only four of the genera of the Cape Region are supposed to be 

 endemic, and three of them are certainly not very distinct from 

 their nearest relatives. The most distinct, Coulterella, has been 

 found only along the gulf shore, east from La Paz, but as it is 

 strictly a maritime plant it is to be expected from neighboring coasts. 



The annexed table, showing in a condensed form the geo- 

 graphical distribution of the flowering plants and ferns and 



