486 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1886. 



and the Colorado, but their vegetation does not materially differ from 

 that of hills and bluffs. 



Guadalupe Peak, the highest in Texas, stands about 9,000 feet above 

 the sea. Limpio Peak and the dome of the Chenates are from 500 to 

 800 feet lower, and lower still are the Chisos Mountains. Ea gle Mountain 

 has the least altitude, not exceeding 7,000 feet. 



Good, serviceable timber is only found in the Guadalupe and Limpio 

 Mountains. There is much arboreal vegetation in the other mountains 

 but hardly of sufficient size for the saw-mill. Several species of Pine 

 thrive in the Guadalupe and Limpio ranges; one species only, the Nut 

 Pine, grows on the Chisos, and very sparingly on the north slope of the 

 dome of the Chinates. There is none on Eagle Mountain. 



GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS. 



These mountains, on the south and west, are bounded by a chain of 

 salt lakes stretching along the middle of wide alkali plains; on the con- 

 trary, their eastern base is covered with excellent grass and watered 

 by permanent springs and brooks on which grow large Cottonwood. 



They are well timbered on their broad summit (about 300 feet lower 

 than the peak), and more or less on their eastern side, with Pine, Oak 

 and Cedar, but the height and abruptness of the cliffs which encompass 

 the forest would prove quite an obstacle to the removal of lumber. 



The species of Pine are: Yellow Pine (Pinus ponderosa), the prevalent 

 and most valuable large tree, 30 to 50 feet high and with trunk 1 to 2 

 feet in diameter, extending from the summit to the base of the mount- 

 ain; Flexible Pine (Pinus flexilis), smaller than the last, with trunk 

 seldom exceeding 1 foot in diameter, and hardly found below the sum- 

 mit; Nut Pine (Pinus edulis), a low, twisted tree straggling on the 

 slopes ; useless for lumber. 



The only Fir seen here, or anywhere in Western Texas, is the Pseudo- 

 tsuga (Abies) Douglasii, a fine tree, next in prevalence and size to the 

 Yellow Pine. 



The principal and characteristic " Cedar " of these mountains is the 

 Thick-bark Juniper (Juniperus pacliyphlcea), very common about Pine 

 Spring and the only kind seen on the foot-hills. It has a short trunk, 

 seldom 10 feet high, and from 1 to 3 feet in diameter. A smaller and 

 rarer Juniper seen in some of the interior caiions, is Juniperus occiden- 

 tal is, var. conjungens. 



The Oaks are : Gray Oak (Quercus grisea), everywhere abundant, from 

 a bush to a small round tree seldom a foot in diameter ; Wavy Oak (Q. 

 undulata). very common under two or three forms, especially the bushy 

 var. pungens* near Pine Spring, and var. Gambelii, on the summit, a 

 small shrub or gnarled tree 20 feet high ; Chesnut Oak {Q. Muklenber- 

 gii), in caiions, a rather rare but handsome tree 30 to 40 feet high. 



The other trees are: The Madrona (Arbutus Xalapensis), common as 

 a shrub, rare as a small tree a foot in diameter ; the Red Ash (Fraxinus 



