BOTANY. Tei 
abundantly every other year. An idea prevails that the acorns 
give to swine a disease of the kidneys. 
The huckleberry-leafed oak ( Quercus vaccinifolia) is a shrub, 
from four to six feet high, which grows on the mountains in 
the northern part of the state. Its leaves, in size and form, 
resemble the huckleberry; the acorn is of the size and shape 
of a small hazel-nut. 
§ 77. Buckeye-—The Californian horse-chestnut, or buck- 
eye (_Zsculus californica), is a shrub, 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 thickness 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 hemi- 
spherical 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 Mis- 
sissippi 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. 
§ 78. Sycamore—The Mexican sycamore (Platanus race- 
mosa) exhibits a striking resemblance to the Western syca- 
more of the Atlantic slope. It has the same straggling, irreg- 
ular growth; the same smooth, white, scaly bark; the same 
large, yellowish leaf: but instead of having only one ball on a 
stem, like the Atlantic sycamore, it has several, the stem run- 
ning through one or two, and terminating in the last one. 
§ 79. Pitahaya—The pitahaya (Cereus giganteus), a gigan- 
tic cactus, is one of the most prominent features of the botany 
of the deserts in the southern part of California. It grows to 
a height of fifty feet, with a trunk thirty inches in diameter. 
Sometimes the trunk has no boughs, but usually it throws out 
