53* 



ZONES AND REGIONS [Pt. Ill, Sect. II 



and on the lower region of the Sierra Nevada, there are evergreen bushes 

 and shrubs, among which oaks almost alone dominate over wide areas. 

 Close to the sea, Cupressus macrocarpa (Fig. 304) is often seen, either 

 growing in the open or in thin woods. 



Descriptions of the character of the vegetation on the coast of California are very 

 rare. According to C. A- Purpus, in the south-west Sierra Nevada, Quercus Dou- 



glasii, Hook, et Arn., 

 covers the lower slopes; 

 at about 2,000 feet a 

 vegetation of trees and 

 shrubs of quite a 

 different composition 

 commences; these are 

 the so-called chapar- 

 rals (Fig. 299), which 

 clothe a large part of 

 the Coast Range with 

 a vegetation that 

 throughout is similar 

 in physiognomy and in 

 the composition of the 

 flora. Quercus chryso- 

 lepis, Liebm.( Figs. 269, 

 275), stands pre-emi- 

 nent among the trees, 

 owing to its size and 

 frequent occurrence. 

 With it occur the like- 

 wise evergreen Q.Wis- 

 lizeni, A. DC, and the 

 deciduous Q. Kelloggii, 

 Newb., both tree- 

 forms, whilst the no 

 less characteristic Q. 

 Breweri, Engelm., re- 

 mains shrubby, and 

 forms almost impene- 

 trable thickets. The characteristic shrubs are, in the first place, the rosaceous 

 Adenostoma fasciculatum, Hook, et Arn. (Fig. 300, 2), an evergreen heath-like 

 shrub, with flowers like a Spiraea, frequently forming extensive pure thickets. 

 Common and characteristic also is Ceanothus cuneatus, Nutt. (Fig. 300, 3), a bushy 

 shrub, attaining a height of two meters, bearing white or bright blue flowers, 

 and likewise showing a tendency to grow socially and to form a dense thicket. 

 Purpus further mentions the large-blossomed sterculiaceous Fremontia californica, 

 Torr., the deciduous Aesculus californica, Nutt., the rosaceous Cercocarpus parvi- 



Fig. 304. Cupressus macrocarpa, Harlw., the Monterey cypress 

 on the sea-coast near San Francisco. From a photograph. 



