492 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885. 

 FROM SIERRA BLANCA TO THE CHENATE MOUNTAINS. 



Near the junction of the Texas Pacific with the Southern Pacific 

 Railroads, is Sierra Blanca, so called from its whitish, barren aspect. 

 It bears no other arborescent growth than a bushy form of Gray Oak 

 and scrub Cedar. The Quitman Mountains, to the southwest, show 

 dark fringes of the same small timber among their craggy outlines. 



Eagle Mountain rises in successive grassy inclines to its conical sum- 

 mit, about 2,000 feet above the plain. It contains a considerable growth 

 of Gray Oak and Red Cedar, but of too small size to make serviceable 

 lumber. The best of the Oak, in canons at the base, have a straight 

 trunk 12 to 15 feet high and 1 foot in diameter. The Cedar is of two 

 species : Junipevus occidentalis on foot-hills, and higher up, J. pacliyplilcea, 

 already noticed as the prevalent Juniper of the Guadalupe and Limpio 

 Mountains, but here much smaller. Choke-Cherry trees (Prunus Ca- 

 pulM) of good size were seen in a basin between foot-hills, and, close by, 

 a few specimens of Berberis Fremonti, an elegant shrub 10 to 12 feet 

 high. Cercocarpus parvifolius, var. paucidentatus, and the obnoxious 

 Adolphia infesta are common on foot-hills. In the shade of rocks, near 

 the summit, Heuchera rubescens grows abundantly. Lower down are 

 tufts of a large form of Artemisia frigida, contrasting with the showy 

 panicles of Gilia aggregata. 



Eagle Spring, at the northern base of the mountain, is a shallow hole 

 in a bare, gravelly bank. Between it and Quitman Canon, along the 

 foot-hills, are large groves of Palmo {Yucca baccata, var. australis) 15 

 to 30 feet high. 



Continuous with Eagle Mountain and running southeastward are 

 several minor ranges, viz., Van Horn, Vieja, and Capote Mountains, 

 which contain, in canons, a small amount of timber consisting of the 

 usual Gray Oak and Bed Cedar, to which is added Quercus Umoryi, here 

 of medium size. These mountains are precipitous on the river side 

 but slope gradually to the north and east, merging in the vast prairie 

 district extending thence to Fort Davis. 



CHENATE MOUNTAINS. 



These mountains, only second in altitude to the Guadalupe, are 

 somewhat parallel with, and about 20 miles from, the Rio Grande. 



There is no Pine on the two lower peaks nor on the summit or dome, 

 but thin clumps of Nut Pine are found on the northern face of the latter. 

 The timber of these mountains consists of Red Cedar, seldom of useful 

 size, and Gray Oak, short stemmed and round headed, rarely a foot in 

 diameter. Groves of this Oak fill ravines and creep up the mountain 

 sides in dark, sinuous lines. The large timber in Cibolo Canon has 

 already been described. 



Of the shrubbery should be noted: 

 Prosopis juliflora. 

 Acacia constricta and Greggii. 



