BOTANY. 365 



stem running through one or two, and terminating in the last 

 one. 



The Californian walnut is found in the coast valleys from 

 St. Helena to Los Angeles, but it is not abundant anywhere. 

 The tree is cultivated for ornament and for its nuts. 



It is said that there are indigenous chestnuts in Mendocino 

 County. Wild cherries are found in many parts of the State ; 

 wild plums in the high mountains, and crab apples in the 

 northern counties. 



The Californian horse-chestnut, or buckeye, (^Esculw cali- 

 fornica) is a bush, 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 thick- 

 ness 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 hemispherical 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 Mississippi Valley, but is 

 larger and more abundant. It is a staple article of food with 

 those few Californian Indians who still depend upon wild 

 fruits and game for their subsistence. 



The mountain mahogany is an evergreen found on the 

 eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, at an elevation of 6,000 

 feet above the sea. The leaves are bright and glossy, the 

 growth low, the trunk crooked, the wood red, very even in 

 grain, hard, heavy, and susceptible of high polish, and the 

 yellowish blossoms which cover the tree in the spring are rich 

 in a vanilla-like fragrance. 



292. Poison Oak. The poison oak, or poison ivy, (Hhus 

 toxicodejidron) grows abundantly in the valleys, the Coast 



