94 THE BOTANY OF THE CUYAMACA MOUNTAINS. 
this cañon on the north, ascending over rolling granitic hills, on 
which, at about six hundred feet altitude, we meet the first thick- 
cup oak (Quercus crassipocula), a curious form, with pale oval 
leaves, sometimes lobate, which remain green all winter down here, 
and fall on the coming out of the new leaves, now just grown. 
Various mountain plants, before unseen, accompany it, and it is 
perhaps the limit of the orange, which has been growing here 
for more than ten years successfully on Ames’ ranche. The most : 
notable shrubby trees are the northern evergreen plum (Prunus 
ilicifolia Nutt.),** wild lilac” (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus Esch.), and 
a shrubby live oak (Q. Ransomi Kell.). 
Five miles from the valley at Flynn’s, about nine hundred feet 
elevation, and in a narrow ravine, we first found a really luxuriant 
vegetation ; the trees very large, crops heavy and a fine orchard, 
eight years old, of all the common fruits and some young orange- 
trees, figs, grapes, etc. The chief cause of this productiveness was- 
forcibly impressed on our mind, by finding that the usual sea-fe 
which had been more dense than usual this day in the form of a 
cloudy sky, began to condense into rain after sunset, and heavy 
showers continued during the whole night. We afterwards learned 
that this rain was light in Cajon valley, but did not reach San 
Diego at all, though general in the northern part of the state. — 
April 28th. Light showers continued until 10 A. m., and as- h 
clouds lifted, we saw the Cuyamaca Mountains, white with a 
only a few miles east of us. Crossing rocky and mostly bar 
: granitic hills, which become more and more covered on their) 
slopes with large shrubs of northern species of Ceanothus, 
_ staphylus, ete., we reached another old lake bed called “ Valle 
~ los Viejos” (from some ancient aborigines found there by the f 
_ Mexican visitors), having an elevation of over two thousand 
and where the verdure of spring was scarcely beginning, ton witl 
o but showed a paucity of species indicating that it is too 
n ln epee forms and too dry at times for many 
From this we ania a steep rocky ridge one thousand 
hundred : feet whore, from the top of which we could look down 
a a ‘San Die: Bay, and distinguish the lighthouse. pea 
— southwest. ‘Shrubs only cover this slope, but on © 
: summit, we es enter a scattered but luxuriant 
N 
