Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ixii. (1918), No. 8. 11 



candleberry myrtle) will usually be found to be amongst its chief 

 constituents. 



Of the native Laurineae, Laurus canariensis is a predominant 

 feature only in the evergreen woods of Teno and of Anaga. It 

 forms the bulk of the laurel woods of Monte Aguirre and of Las 

 Mercedes near La Laguna. Ocotea {Oreo daphne) foetens, the "til," 

 with its acorn-like fruit, is now restricted to the Barrancos Castro 

 and Ruiz. ' The writer visited the grove of ancient " tils " in the 

 latter locality. In habit they resemble pollard beeches or horn- 

 beams of wide girth. With them was seen Phoebe barbusana, which 

 was also noted near Tegueste and fringing the edge of a barranco at 

 La Florida above Orotava. The demand for its wood has no doubt 

 rendered it scarce. To see the fourth and last of the group of native 

 laurels, Persea indica, to perfection, one must visit one or other of 

 the specially favourable localities where the Monte Verde is most 

 varied and luxuriant. Such are the woods through which one 

 descends to Taganana and the patch of forest at Agua Garcia 

 above Tacoronte. Here Persea indica reaches a height of from 

 25 to 30 m., with a circumference of 6 to 8 m. at 2 m. from 

 the ground. Davallia canariensis grows on the trunks and lateral 

 limbs of the laurels, enlacing them with its brown-scaled rhizomes. 

 Erica arborea here attains to a size seen nowhere else in the island, 

 specimen trees being 20 m. in height and 70 cm. in diameter. The 

 woods of Agua Garcia are further noted as being the only locality 

 in the island where the large-leaved holly (Ilex platyphylla) occurs. 



A variety of the olive (Olea europaa, var. cerasiformis) is not 

 uncommon, but is nowhere cultivated. To the same natural order 

 belongs Picconia excelsa, the " palo bianco " — i.e. " white wood" — 

 now very scarce. The same may be said of two endemic represent- 

 atives of the order Myrsinacese. Heberdenia excelsa is an evergreen 

 tree of which examples may be seen near Buenavista. Pleiomeris 

 canariensis has magnolia-like foliage ; it was noted at Taganana, 

 Barranco Ruiz and above Los Silos. Both have edible fruits 

 and are sometimes cultivated. Visnea mocanera (Ternstroemiacese), 

 whose specific name perpetuates that by which it was known to the 

 aborigines of the island, is a neat evergreen shrub, or occasionally a 

 tree. Its cream -white flowers are musk-scented and the calyx- 

 segments enlarged to enclose the fruit. Catha cassinoides (Celastri- 

 neae) is of rather infrequent occurrence. Much more general are 

 Rhamnus glandulosa, Viburnum rugosum and Jasminum pumilum. 

 Phyllis nobla and the rarer P. viscosa are endemic representatives of 

 a peculiar genus of Rubiacece, while Gesnouinia arborea is a shrubby 

 Parietaria. 



In the cool depths of the Barranco del Rio, above Guimar, many 

 botanists have studied the vegetation of this zone, nowhere more 

 rich and varied than here. This ravine is the chief stronghold in the 

 island of Arbutus canariensis, seen elsewhere very sparsely and in the 

 form of isolated individuals. Here there are still some hundreds of 

 trees, the older ones 9 m. or more in height and with trunks 60 cm. in 

 diameter. Their smooth stems and limbs of rich cinnamon-brown 



