289 
Afterwards we went to Los Frailes, a tract of lava country 
belonging to Perez. Among the more interesting plants 
collected were a i ee naceous plant with small white flowers 
(Messerschmidia fruticosa), Withania aristata and Periploca laevigata. 
Rubia fruticosa was abundant everywhere. Tangled masses. of 
dodder were. found on ivy-leaved Pelar: gonium, growing so thickly 
that it could be gathered in handfuls. There is a fine avenue of the 
Canarian date-palm (Phoenix canariensis) on the estate. 
An early start was made next day (May 26th) in res sath with 
Domingo Hernandez for the lava stream below the Montaiia le la 
Horea. avallia canariensis was very sheild among the 
blocks of lava, and another fern, Gymnogramme leptophylla, was 
fairly frequent. Schimper’s ‘tufted-leaved plants’ (Federbusch 
(rewiichse)* were represented by Kleinia neritfolia and Kuphorbia 
Regis-Jubae. Among other characteristic plants were Rhamnus 
erenulata, Gonospermum fruticosum, Artemisia argentea, Lavandula 
abrotanoides and a fine white-flowered Sempervivum. lowering 
and pees specimens were obtained of the rare Ruta pinnata. 
st was next paid to the Botanic Garden, t where we were 
e 
the more interesting endemic plants are represented. Fine examples 
were seen of Pandanus utilis, numerous palms, several species of 
Araucaria, Hibiscus elatus, 45 ft. hig , Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, 
15 ft., covered with scarlet flowers, tcus nitida and F, ejrveruin’ 
The latter is remarkable for producing figs on the trunk right 
to the level of the soil, as well as on as large branches (see Plate 3). 
Perhaps the most beautiful cg een was a tree of Albizzia 
Julibrissin with a wealth of delicate hash-oolbneea flowers. 
On leaving the Botanic Garden we met Dr. Perez, who drove us 
up to his garden at Villa Orotava, stopping at the Plaza de 
Frankei on the way. Here we got specimens of the rare Rhamnus 
glandulosus, which was stated to have been brought from Las 
Mercedes. he frequent use of native trees is a praiseworthy 
feature of the public gardens in the Canaries. 
There are two interestin ng groups of Laurus canariensis in the 
garden at Villa Orotava which illustrate fi vegetative mode of 
reproduction of the species: one consists of the e of a large 
trunk surrounded by a circle of five iintlor trees which evidently 
arose as suckers from the central one; the other has several 
relatively small trees in a circle, the middle one Ser Ms completely 
disappeared. Among other trees seen we e Juniperus Cedrus 
3S and Q, Heberdenia excelsa and Arbutus canariensis. There was a 
fine bush of Cytisus Spachianus 15 ft. high, s said ud the ate 
* Schenck, Veg. Canar. Ins., p. 271. 
+ An interesting ees of this Garden was given by Sir D. (then Dr.) 
Morris in Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc., 1896, vol. xix., p. 78, with a select list (p. 107) 
of the plants observed there in 1 1893. 
31674 AZ 
