188 VEGETATION OF THE 



The ride through the Corkwood from the second 

 Venta is delightful ; the entrance to this almost virgin 

 forest puts one in mind of scenery in England, the 

 cork-trees representing the old oaks seen in many an 

 entrance to a country mansion ; but here these noble 

 trees, instead of being surrounded by marks of civiliza- 

 tion, grow in wild mountainous regions. In the so- 

 called Corkwood, the trees are principally of two 

 species of Quercus, viz. Q. suber and Q. lusitanica, 

 var. bcetica ; their old weather-beaten trunks and 

 branches are of various shades of brown and green, 

 formed by the numerous lichens which grow upon 

 them. Mr. Willkomm, a young German botanist, 

 whose acquaintance I had the pleasure of making in 

 Malaga, enumerates, among several species, Usnea 

 barbata and Sticta pulmonacea. On these fine trees 

 the Davallia canariensis and the Polypodium vulgare 

 also grow in great profusion, finding a matronly 

 shelter from the thick foliage, under the shade of 

 which grow also the Erica arborea, E. umbellata, 

 Oxalis comiculata, Helianthemum tuberarium, Hype- 

 ricum ciliatum, Trichonema bulbocodium, and Sedum 

 acre. On the more level parts the ground is covered 

 with Pteris aquilina, several species of Genista and 

 Sarothamnus bceticus. The plants here have a fresh- 

 ness even in summer, when the unsheltered parts 

 near St. Roque are parched up ; and many attain an 

 unusually large size. Near this noble forest is the 

 farm which once belonged to the late Duke of Kent, 

 and adjoining it is a thickly set copse of pines, under 

 whose shade grow Genista tridenta and Linum radiola, 



