Dr Kuhl on the Vegetable Productions of Madeira. 121 



Willows, &c. must strike every stranger. All our European 

 fruits are here cultivated ; but such as are not planted in a 

 soil that is properly manured, are far inferior to ours in point 

 of flavour, at least such as we had the opportunity of eating. 

 The grapes, indeed, must be excepted, which possess much 

 richness, and are mostly red. The wine is a true claret, and 

 the good old Madeira has the exact colour of Rhenish wine. 

 The red, which is not a claret, is rare. All the native trees 

 have coriaceous leaves, and one only bears an esculent fruit, 

 which is an arborescent Vaccinium ; the rest have been intro- 

 duced by the Portuguese. One single species of Fir, it is said, 

 was found on the island when it was discovered, but that was 

 soon extirpated by the use that was made of it in building, 

 for which purpose the Chesnut is now employed and cultivat- 

 ed. Of the thick stems of the arborescent Heaths (Ericas.) 

 which crown the top of the Pico Ruivo, and whose wood is of 

 a beautiful red colour, they make props for their vines, which 

 are not, as with us, trained upright, but horizontally, just 

 above the ground, forming a green covering, 



As the climate of the different regions varies according to 

 the relative heights of the mountains, so we meet with very 

 different plants at different elevations ; and the different belts 

 or regions may thus be characterized. 



1. Region of the Cacti, 



Which, according to our calculations, reaches to an elevation 

 of 630 feet above the level of the sea. V,on Buch gives the 

 same extent to this region at Teneriffe. In Madeira, how- 

 ever, the succulent Euphorbia?, and other African plants, 

 which abound in Teneriffe, are wanting. Cactus Fiats Indi- 

 ca grows alone upon the bare rocks, and Vines, Canes, Figs, 

 Arums and Musw, and other southern fruit3, are cultivated 

 in the fields. This district is rich in wild plants. We 

 found of 



Cryptogamia, one species, and that, indeed, Adiantum capillus Vene- 

 ris. 



Monocotyledons, seven ; three Putiicn, Cynodon, Selaria, Andro- 

 pogon and Milium. 



Dicotyledons, sixty; amongst which, hesides the genera which 



