ZONES OF VEGETATION. 53 
thema, the Cacalia Kleinia, the Draccena, and other 
plants, whose naked and tortuous trunks, succulent 
leaves, and bluish-green tints, constitute features 
distinctive of the vegetation of Africa. In this zone 
are raised the date-tree, the plantain, the sugar- 
cane, the Indian-fig, the arum colocasia, the olive, 
the fruit-trees of Europe, the vine, and wheat. 
2. The Region of Laurels is that which forms 
the woody part of Teneriffe, where the surface of 
the ground is always verdant, being plentifully 
watered by springs. Four kinds of laurel, an oak, 
a wild olive, two species of iron-tree, the arbutus 
callicarpa, and other evergreens adorn this zone. 
The trunks are covered by the ivy of the Canaries 
and various twining shrubs, and the woods are filled 
with numerous species of fern. The hypericum, 
and other showy plants, enrich with their beautiful 
flowers the verdant carpet of moss and grass. 
3. The Region of Pines, which commences at 
the height of 1920 yards, and has a breadth of 850, 
is characterized by a vast forest of trees, resembling 
the Scotch fir, intermixed with juniper. 
4. The fourth zone is remarkable chiefly for the 
profusion of refama, a species of broom, which forms 
oases in the midst of a wide sea of ashes. It grows 
to the height of nine or ten feet, is ornamented with 
fragrant flowers, and furnishes food to the goats, 
which have run wild on the Peak from time im- 
memorial. | 
5. The fifth zone is the Region of the Grasses, 
in which some species of these supply a scanty 
covering to the heaps of pumice, obsidian, and lava. 
A few cryptogamic plants are observed higher ; but 
the summit is entirely destitute of vegetation. 
