CONTRIBUTIONS TO WESTERN BOTANY NO. U 103 



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In the morning the coast Hne now is a long series of mesas, 1,000 

 let more or less above the sea, Tertiary or Cretaceous. The slopes 

 nearly vertical on /the east, few jagged pealts, prdba'bTy «p gently west-' 

 «var<J as far as the eye can rtach, apparently a great plain behind. As we 

 eo southward tiic mountains drop lower and lower till they almost fade 



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into a plain west of Xa Paz. 



At La 'Pa2 Washingtonia Sonorae grows at tidewater along the beach. 

 The bay shallows out to a low and sandy beach or water Hne for many 

 miles northwest of La Pai. There w also i long and sandy spit north of 

 La Paz. covered with Mangle. South of La Paz the hills begin at once 

 in sloping mesas, like those <»i the island north tEspJ"*« Santo) ^riA' 

 #eem to be Triassic or Cretaceous. Then l)china fhem come steeper vol- 

 cmc hills or mountains, as though they had shoved up the sedimentary. 

 l> twt^n them and the sea. Along the beach there is a senus of Pkisto- 

 c:nf benches next the shore -which are about 100 feet thick, or less, «id m 

 rUces full of shells. 'To the soufli of Ta Paz soera 30 miles rise higher 

 mbCVn tains with mines ^hich are'at least in' part eruptive. Cactus are 

 v<^ common, both Cereus Pringlei and TTiurberi. The trush is aT>un- 

 darit, mcsquit, Lycium, Euphorbiaceous stuff, Figelovia (same ^s >antfl 

 Rftsalia): There is a long and coarse vine with big keves and pmi 

 flowers, from a woody root, along fhe seashore, sometimes 20 to .<0 fret 

 long, growing flat on the ground and climbing over bushes but wi?h ro 

 tendrils. • Mesquit is common, also the ^ same Lyciuna. A giant Ureus 

 which must be Pringlei is common liere, also the proliferous Opunt'.a, al=*5 

 Cereus gummosus and another like it, but larger and more erect. Mon 

 lugo. Pectis, Eragrostis, a busli wiA panicled flowei^ and white and trans- 

 lucent berry, very small flowers, wlft habit g* Chilopsis, a palo ver^le 



same as at Hermosillo. . , , « * .. j. 



Triunfo. This place is alxjut 40 miles south of La Pa? and up^n 



feet 



ine niiis near ine top, i,ouu im <»iuiuviv.. » s-- - ^ ^ j^„.„ 



pa«t with' an old smelter of great size. Here Ifee ^etafion is denser 

 than below * because of greater humidity. . 



San Antonior This mining town is about five mi es ^J^^^^/^"* 

 and on the southern ' slope (going down toward the sra). ^^T^^" ' 



feet altitude. ' Lysiloma Candida Is ver>- common h^re Jw^ 



quieeria peninsularis, bottle-brush Cereus, also Cereus 

 the, largest of the cacti. This cactus is at once separable fr^ C 

 ..iganteus and all other species ty the flowers which .^^"^^''"^^f^^^l^ ^'^^ 

 the southern side of the stems, are' 3-4 inches long.^and very dark (alm«t 

 black) purple on the outside, and pearly white wi^thm "^f?^ ^^l f^^ "I 

 the grelt burr formed by the mature ovary, which on the outside i. a 

 densely tangled mass of yellow spines which remams <»nj^ ^^i^' J" ^^ 

 r-reus Thurberi «ow«« I did not see. but the frui^ "^^^'J-j, Xk 

 ir>. diameter, with red and juicy pulp and with remote and ^°^^" ^ack 

 .-^ds. and is edible. Also there is the shel ac tree (Bursera) ^.^ y^l<^ 

 ?-rV flaking up, also the otiier species with pinnate leaves. ^amnJ^ 

 ^..fo^nica^^ar^inskia) ^-^^ f^^':^^^^ ^ ::^^'^, 



mcliejs 



with dark and rough bark l^iloma ^ «n«o& 



■rf 



