758 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Another fruit is the "guayparin," a species of per- 

 simmon, of a brown color when ripe. It is not astringent 

 and is very highly flavored and really more palatable than 

 the Japan persimmons. It should be useful for crossing 

 with the Japan persimmons. 



Among other wild useful plants two maybe mentioned. 

 One is the " palo bianco " ( Lysiloma Candida), the bark 

 of which is peeled, dried and exported in large quantities 

 to England and United States for tanning purposes. It is 

 said to be one of the very best tan-barks known, giving 

 the leather a fine russet color and making it very soft. 

 This tree grows everywhere in the mountains, in almost 

 inexhaustible quantities, It is a slender tree reaching a 

 height of thirty to fifty feet. 



The herb known as " damiana," used for the produc- 

 tion of damiana bitters, is common in many places. Its 

 botanical name is Turner a diffusa. 



Aspects of Vegetation. — For a detailed botanical ac- 

 count of the botany of this region, the various papers 

 published by T. S. Brandegee will be found most ex- 

 haustive. Here I will only point to a few features of the 

 general landscape as they present themselves to the trav- 

 eler. With very few exceptions the whole of the Cape 

 Region is densely covered with shrubs and low trees, 

 among which in the lower elevations are mixed numerous 

 cacti, some tall and rigid, others of spreading habits and 

 forms. 



During the rainy season all this vegetation is intensely 

 green, the foliage is fine and feathery and the hills and 

 mountains present at a distance a mass of green, which 

 may nearest be compared to the lace-like appearance of 

 the maiden-hair fern. The trees as a rule are small, 

 slender and low, of an average of twenty to thirty feet. 

 Some few varieties are taller. The finest and densest 



