VOL.. III.] The Flora of Sowra. 345 



* The cacti of the vicmity of Guaymas seem to have been somewhat 

 neglected and are not noticed in the accounts of its flora. Of course 

 they are difhcult plants to make into botanical specimens, and disa- 

 greeable to come in contact with, but some of them, when in bloom, 

 are very attractive, and there is a species of Platopuntia, often grow- 

 ing among nearly black rocks that contrast so strongly with its bright 

 red joints as to make it seem from a distance like a mass of brilliantly 

 colored flowers, in fact at first I made the boatman land me on the 

 rocks, which I climbed, so as to be certain what it might be. This 

 cactus is known as "durasnillas," and a little village near Hermosillo 

 that we visited later is named from it Las Durasnillas. A few plants 

 of a scarlet-flowered cereus grow on a sandy island, and afterwards it 

 was seen in abundance in the interior. 



Near the city and in many parts of Sonora, Cereus Schottii^ which 

 on the peninsula received not long ago the additional name C. 

 Sargentianus , is common and assumes the various forms in which it 

 grows on the peninsula of Lower California. The most distinct is 

 the one in which the top bears spines similar to the lower part, and, 

 although flower-bearing, large and old, entirely lacks those long 

 white. spines so characteristic of this species. 



Notwithstanding the adverse conditions, some of the well known 

 plants of the Guaymas flora were in full bloom. Hofnieistcria cras- 

 sifolia blooms in the dry season, as does its near ally, H. fascicuiata, 

 of Cabo San Lucas, and was now crowned by its myriad of light-pink 

 flowers, and like its Lower Californian relative delights to grow on 

 cliffs just beyond the reach of the ocean spray. Now and then a 

 small tree of Guaiac2im Coulteri disdaining to follow the example of 

 the other members of its species, covered its leafless branches with 

 a mass of dark sky-blue flowers, and the brilliant effect of its erratic 

 conduct was increased by the staidness of its surroundings, for it was 

 a cloud of blue amongst a crowd of leafless grayish-brown bushes, 

 resting on an ash-colored and baked adobe soil. 



Cczsalpinia, Hyptis, Jacquinia, and other shrubs were evidently 

 endeavoring to produce blossoms and fruit, but the drought was so 

 excessive that only withered flowers were the result. That slender, 

 drooping acacia, A. Willardiaiia, full of flowers and ripe pods, was 

 found to be abundant on rocky ledges west of the city, and again 

 later I was pleased to see it growing on a rocky hill almost within 

 the ciiy limits of Hermosillo. 



