333 
La Isleta presents also some analogous 
and their allies invariably prevail. 
peninsula, originally thrown up by furious 
subterranean fires, bears all the marks of 
volcanic origin; it is united to the Great 
Canaria by the isthmus of Guanartema ; 
and many volcanic cones whose bases are 
encumbered by vitrified masses, rise above 
this devastated soil. 
When nature had resumed its calm, La 
Isleta became a revered spot, which the 
superstitious terror of the inhabitants con- 
verted into a kind of Morai. Heaps of 
scorie, piled in the form of tumuli, enclose 
the corpses of these islanders, and occupy 
the centre of the field of partially decom- 
posed lava: there vegetation has begun to 
establish itself, and plants may be seen to 
spring from among the tombs. So singu- 
lar and extraordinary is this spot, that no- 
thing can be compared to it. The dead, 
interred in extinct craters,—the dust of an 
exterminated population mingling with vol- 
canic ashes; and, above the vestiges of 
these two kinds of desolation, nature fulfill- 
ing her purpose and fertilizing the ruins with 
new productions: such is the picture which 
La Isleta presents to view! Large bushes 
of leafless .Euphorbias, E. Canariensis 
and E. aphylla, spread like candelabra 
above these sepulchres, their crimson blos- 
soms looking like burning lights, the Ploc- 
amas, with their drooping branches, resem- 
ble our Weeping Willow, while the Oriz- 
ama, (Cneorum pulverulentum) a tere- 
binthaceous plant, sull employed for the 
purpose o ing, mingles its silvery 
boughs with the warm tints of that soil 
where the aborigines of the island repose. 
Among a great variety of plants, such as 
Heliotropium erosum*, Reseda scoparia*, 
Chenopodium ambrosioides, | Forskülea 
n eo Buphthalmum | stenophyllum*, 
Ae Aizoon Canariense, Mesembryanthemum 1 
m, Beta maritima, Zygoph yllum 
a ta, Conyza sericea and C. dichotoma 
as oe abundant in this locality, as 
well as Convolvulus scoparius, the rose- 
VEGETATION OF THE CANARY ISLANDS. 
- the ote and on the rola. are 
like scent of whose wood causes it to be 
particularly esteemed. 
With the exception of those species 
marked above with an asterisk (and which 
are replaced by Echium aculeatum, 
Frankenia corymbosa, Messerschmidia 
fruticosa, Physalis somnifera and Glau- 
cium flavum), the greatest part of the 
plants of La Isleta are found in similar 
situations of volcanic desolation at Palma. 
There, too, at Fuente Blanca and on the 
Malpais of Tazacorta and the craggy 
rocks of the eastern coast, vegetation has 
succeeded in establishing itself, on a soil 
originally devastated by volcanic agency. 
But without descending to minute detail, 
we will continue to take Ténériffe as the © 
type of that geographical distribution which 
is every where obvious. 
The towns and villages of the coast, and 
those situated on the first level above the 
cliffs which border the shore, possess like- 
wisetheir own Flora, interspersed, however, 
with several species that have been already i 
named. The following plants, Achyranthes 
nivea, Euphorbia Peplus, Senebiera di- 
dyma, Lappago racemosa, Aristida ceru- 
lescens, Datura Stramonium, Erigeron | 
Canadense and E. viscosum, Urtica urens, | 
Forskülea fruticosa, Hyoscyamus Canari- ij 
ensis, Parietaria Judaica and Ozals — 
pA C NE 
ence 
corniculata may be seen springing up inc d 
the interstices of the pavement and the 
less frequented streets; while in the town - 
of Orotava, Solanum pseudo-caps" sicum, 
Chelidonium majus and Viola odorata 
grow all along the causeways, and many 
the roofs of old buildings and the edges of 
walls are thus adorned. In Laguna, this EM 
town-florais peculiarly E Among 2 
the plants of its streets we may mention Ra- | 
nunculus parviflorus and R. muricatus, x 
Solanum nigrum, Lamarckia aurea NE i 
con gestu Um 
riense and S. dichotomum, 
Robertianum, Thelygonum Cy | 
Hedera Canariensis, Campan zula ‘ 
