BOTANY. 101 



abundantly every other year. An idea prevails that the acorns 

 give to swine a disease of the kidneys. 



The huckleberry -leafed oak ( Quercus vacci?ii folia) is a shrub, 

 from four to six feet high, which grows on the mountains in 

 the northern part of the state. Its leaves, in size and form, 

 resemble the huckleberry ; the acorn is of the size and shape 

 of a small hazel-nut. 



§ VY. Buckeye. — The Californian horse-chestnut, or buck- 

 eye {^sculus californica)^ is a shrub, or low, spreading tree, 

 abundant in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and coast valleys. 

 It likes to grow about rocky ledges, in ravines, and on the 

 banks of streams. Sometimes it throws up a dozen stems, 

 which grow to a thickness of three or four inches each; but 

 usually it has one trunk, six or eight inches through. The 

 tree rarely exceeds fifteen feet in height, and it has a hemi- 

 spherical shape, very dense foliage, rising from the ground in 

 a globular form. It continues to put forth large clusters of 

 fragrant blossoms from early spring till late summer. The 

 leaves are among the first to open of the deciduous trees of 

 the state. Five leaves grow together on one stem. The fruit 

 has a close resemblance to that of the buckeye-tree of the Mis- 

 sissippi valley, but is larger and more abundant. It is a staple 

 article of food with those few Californian Indians who stiU 

 depend upon w^ild fruits and game for their subsistence. 



§ 78. Sycamore. — The Mexican sycamore [Platanus r^ct- 

 mosa) exhibits a striking resemblance to the Western s) ca- 

 more of the Atlantic slope. It has the same straggling, in eg- 

 ular growth; the same smooth, white, scaly bark; the same 

 large, yellowish leaf: but instead of having only one ball on a 

 stem, like the Atlantic sycamore, it has several, the stem run- 

 ning through one or two, and terminating in the last one. 



§ 79. Pitahaya. — The pitahaya ( Cereus giganteus)^ a gigan- 

 tic cactus, is one of the most prominent features of the botany 

 of the deserts in the southern part of California. It grows to 

 a height of fifty feet, with a trunk thirty inches in diameter. 

 Sometimes the trunk has no boughs, but usually it throw^s out 



