THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



63 



from cuttings obtained from the San Dieg-o mission. Hie um'- 

 A'ersal presence of the ohve in the southern Califrjrnia landscape 

 does much to give to the region its Old World look and to bring 

 to mind the beautiful imagery of the Old Testament, as one 

 travels amidst the spreading beauty of the trees. They have 

 a peculiar ashen-gray foliage, persisting throughout the year, 

 and producing a marked character that causes them to be readily 

 recognized even at long distances. Bible readers will remember 

 that the foliage of the olive brought to the ark by the return- 

 ing dove is the first green thing that is named after the waters 

 of the Xoahian flood had begun to subside. The ripe fruit is a 

 bright, glossy black in color, and Californians with a penchant 

 for practical jokes like to tempt strangers to take a bite of it. 

 The taste is intensely bitter and astringent, and one wonders 

 at the genius of the man who originally discovered its edibilitv. 

 The birds like the fruit when it is dead ripe and doubtless And 

 it as pleasing as the wild cherry is to their eastern cousins. 

 Properly pickeled the ripe olive is delicious and nutritious, and 

 by most Californians is preferred to the pickeled green olive. 



Quite as abundant in our Land of Sunshine as the olive is 

 that other biblical fruit tree, the hg — one of the most ancient 

 and beautiful trees, vdiich like tlie oIIat was introduced to our 

 Pacific Coast bv the Franciscans in the eighteenth centurv. Okl 



o . 



trees two feet in diameter are to be seen in California, and one 

 who plants a fig in his garden does well to set it where its branches 

 may haA'e uninterupted growth for a radius of twenty feet all 

 about it. Once we stayed for a dav at a rancher's dwelling 

 Avhere close to the house an old fig tree grew. Avhose ample 

 spread of dense foliage was as impervious to the sun as a 

 shingled roof, and throughout the hot. rainless summer the 

 family utilized its cool shade for a dining hall and living room, 

 furnishing it appropriately with table and chairs. They were 

 pleasant meals we ate there, and brought a realization of the 

 peace and security which the ancient Hebrews associated so par- 

 ticularly with dwelling under one's own vine and one's own 

 fig tree. 



