60 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
THE PLANTS AND GARDENS OF THE CANARY 
ISLANDS. 
By Dr. Morris, C.M.G., M.A., F.L.S., Assistant-Director of the 
Royal Gardens, Kew. 
[Read May 14, 1895.] 
The Canary Islands consist of a group of seven islands lying off 
the coast of North-west Africa in lat. 28° N. They are in the 
same latitude as Florida, Egypt, and Southern Persia. The 
total area is ahout 2,800 square miles, and the population is 
300,000, mostly of Spanish descent. The eastern islands, 
Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, are 60 miles from Cape Juby, on 
the Africa coast. The most western islands, Palma and Hierro, 
are 300 miles away. The distance from the mainland of Africa, 
with the Sahara in the background, modifies not only the climate, 
the aspect, the flora, and the produce of the islands, but also the 
customs and habits of the people."* The eastern islands, Lanza- 
rote (380 square miles) and Fuerteventura (797 square miles), 
are comparatively flat, and have large tracts of land covered either 
with yellow sand or with lava-ashes. The latter island (highest 
elevation 2,770 feet) has less verdure, there are no forests, very 
few trees, and springs of water are so limited that cultivation is 
dependent on the precarious rain supply. In very dry seasons 
many of the inhabitants have to move with their cattle for a 
time to the western islands. In the northern part of Lanzarote 
(highest elevation 2,244 feet) there are springs of water used for 
irrigation. In other parts crops are entirely dependent on the 
winter rains. In Grand Canary (634 square miles) the moun- 
tains in the interior rise to an elevation of 6,400 feet. Large 
tracts of land round the coast are barren owing to want of water. 
In some parts cereal crops are raised during the winter months 
by means of irrigation. The water from the mountains is 
carefully stored in tanks, and in the neighbourhood of these 
large crops of Bananas, Tomatos, and Potatos are raised. Inland, 
where there is a heavier rainfall and less necessity for irrigation, 
there are flourishing plantations of Sugar-cane, Grapes, Sweet- 
potatos, and Cereals. The island of Tencriffe (919 square miles) 
is divided along its whole length by a central ridge of high 
♦ " Tfoalth Resorts of the Cannry Islands." By J. Cleasby Taylor, M.D. 
Loudon, 1893. 
