IN CALIFORNIA 201 



flowers, and are specimens of Acacia Farnesiana, or 

 juisache the vinorama of Sonora. In full bloom, 

 as they are in March, their penetrating perfume 

 scents the air with a peculiarly delicious fragrance 

 that one never forgets. The Fathers brought the 

 plant up from Mexico, though it is indigenous also 

 in Texas. It is grown in our Southern States under 

 the misnomer of opoponax, and in Southern Europe 

 as cassie, where it is used by the perfume makers. 

 Its leaves are very sensitive and go to sleep every 

 night. It is one of the plants with which Darwin 

 experimented when making his observations on the 

 sleep of leaves. 



The clumps of great, flat-jointed cactus which are 

 still standing in the neighborhood of many of the 

 Missions, possess more than a passing interest. 

 They are of two species, Opuntia Ficus-Indica and 

 0. Tuna, both introduced by the Padres from Mex- 

 ico, to which country they are indigenous. They 

 served a double purpose. They formed a quick- 

 growing hedge for gardens and other enclosures, and 

 were also a valuable source of food for the Indians 

 the cactus fruit, called tuna, being a really delicious 

 morsel when divested of its prickly coat. Opuntia 

 Ficus-Indica, anglice Indian fig, bears a pyriform 

 fruit about the size of a duck's egg and of a pale 

 straw color; Opuntia Tuna's fruit is red and 



