THE TREES OF CALIFORNIA. 219 



Our expedition lasted under a fortnight, and the return to the 

 valley was by the same road as we had taken in coming. I must 

 tell you, however, that while gathering the seed of Fremonto- 

 dendron Calif or tiicum, after having left the Sequoia belt behind, 

 I found the large seed-vessels of a climbing plant, which our 

 guides called " Wild Cucumber." On my return home I sent 

 these to Kew, and it proves to be a species of Echinocystis, which 

 is new to science, the seeds germinating in a strange fashion. 

 There are one or two other members of the family in California. 



I must mention the " Digger Pine " or P. Sabiniatia, which 

 grows at the base of the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada and 

 Coast Ranges. Its nuts provide a tribe of Indians with their 

 chief diet; and it is a curious tree, growing solitary or in groups 

 — with striking, grey spare foliage and a large round cone — at 

 far lower altitudes than any other Western conifer. It is pre- 

 eminently the tree of the hot, sun-baked foot-hills. 



We spent some time in the Coast country, and visited friends 

 near Mount Diablo, which is the northernmost limit of Finns 

 Coulteri. It only grows in the Coast Range east and south of 

 the Bay of San Francisco, and is interesting from the great size 

 of its cones. It is a striking tree, 60 or 70 feet high, with open 

 head and long needles, but the timber is worthless. 



In the Coast valleys Qtiercus agrifolia, or "California live 

 oak" as it is locally called, is the most important hardwood, 

 and there you find Acer negundo — the only tree, so far as I 

 know, common to Eastern and Western America alike. Cerasus 

 ilicifolia is a handsome evergreen cherry, with silver trunk 

 almost like a birch. Some years ago I grew several plants 

 from seed at Dawyck, but it will not stand our late spring frosts. 

 Heteromeles arbutifolia is a shrub which ought to do well in the 

 south of England. Its bunches of berries are just like those of 

 the rowan, and its leaves are evergreen. It is much sought 

 after at Christmas time in California, where it takes the place of 

 our holly. 



In the valleys of the Coast Range, to the north of the Bay 

 of San Francisco, one finds Cupresstis Macnabiana here and 

 there, but it is nowhere common : to the south of San Francisco, 

 in similar situations, we found Cupressus Goveniana, both well 

 known now-a-days in most British pinetums. 



We went to Monterey to see Cupressus macrocarpa and Finns 

 insignis in their original home. Both have been pretty widely 



