84 
CALIFORNIA. 
below 50°. At Santa Barbara, in tbe beginning 
of January, the temperature at night did not 
fall below 50°, and the average during the 
day was between 60° and 70° ; the atmosphere 
clear and serene. About San Miguel, a 
mission situated on the upper waters of the 
Salinas Rio, the country bore evidence of long 
and extreme drought, which had prevailed for 
one or two years past. The day — a December 
one — was cold and disagreeable, and ice as 
thick as window glass was seen in a small 
branch of the Salinas. 
Vegetable Productions. — The rocky penin- 
sula of Lower California is but scantily 
furnished with vegetation. Some of its pro- 
ductions are, however, useful. One tree, 
called the mesquito tree, furnishes in its leaves 
food for cattle when there is no grass, which 
frequently happens in the dry season ; of 
others, the bark is used for tanning. Figs, 
olives, dates, and vines, which have been 
introduced by the Spaniards, grow well in the 
hot, dry valleys ; and on the more favourable 
spots, maize and the mandioca are cultivated. 
The surface, however, adapted for cultivation 
is very limited ; the steep, rugged mountains, 
of which the peninsula chiefly consists, being 
almost entirely unavailable. 
Upper California, having a more extended 
range of surface, — namely, from the sea-coast 
eastward to the Rocky Mountains, — possesses 
a much more interesting indigenous vegetation. 
Many beautiful hardy plants cultivated in 
English gardens have been formerly obtained 
from this part of California, and many others 
have recently rewarded the researches of the 
Horticultural Society's collector there. 
Mr. Hartweg writes of verdant fields and 
a pine-covered range of mountains about 
Monterey. Several very valuable species of 
Pinus inhabit various parts of the country, 
(chiefly the coast range of mountains,) among 
which are Pinus ins'ignis, a tree growing from 
60 to 100 feet high, with a stem two to four 
feet in diameter; Pinus Benthamiana, 100 feet 
high, with a stem three to four feet in diameter ; 
Pinus Lambertiana, of equal size ; Pinus 
macrocarpa, 80 to lt)0 feet in height, the stem 
six to eight feet in circumference ; Abies 
Douglasii, a magnificent timber tree ; Poms 
Edgariana; Pinus Sabiniana 60 feet high, 
with a stem six feet in circumference ; and 
Abies bracteata, a remarkable tree, growing 
50 feet high. A predominating tree near 
Monterey is the Quercus calif ornica, an 
evergreen oak growing 30 feet high, with a 
globular head, and occurring principally in 
low dry situations. On the dry banks of 
rivulets the Pavia californica, or Californian 
horse-chestnut, is common ; it grows 25 feet 
high, and is of a globular shape, producing 
fragrant white flowers tinged with pink, in 
great abundance on spikes a foot long. On 
the mountains of Santa Cruz the Taxodium 
sempervirens, red -wood, or bastard cedar, 
abounds, and grows to the enormous size of 
200 feet in height, straight as an arrow, with 
a stem from six to eight feet in diameter : 
the timber is of a beautiful red colour, close- 
grained, and light but brittle ; it is not, how- 
ever, attacked by insects, nor does it warp. 
Here occurs the mountain oak, a species of 
Castanea, growing 50 feet high, of a pyramidal 
shape ; its seeds are eaten by the Indians both 
raw and made into bread. At Carmel Bay 
occurs the Cupressus macrocarpa, attaining 
the height of 60 feet, with a stem nine feet 
in circumference, and spreading flat-topped 
branches like a cedar of Lebanon. These, 
except the Quercus and Pavia, are all valu- 
able timber trees. 
On the mountains of San Antonio, a range 
extending near the coast, in the neighbourhood 
of the Salinas River, and attaining a consider- 
able elevation, there occurs abundantly an 
evergreen shrubby species of Primus, called 
Islay, having a holly-like leaf, and bearing red 
fruit resembling the cherry-plum ; the thin 
pulp which surrounds the proportionately 
large seed of this fruit is sweet and pleasantly 
tasted, and the kernel, roasted and made into 
a gruel, is a favourite dish among the Indians. 
The mountains of Santa Cruz yield an ever- 
green shrubby species of chestnut, whose 
nuts, produced in prickly clusters on the points 
of the young wood, and of the size and shape 
of beech-nuts, have an edible kernel resembling 
the filbert in flavour. The seeds of the Pinus 
Llaveana are collected and sold by the Indians. 
(Hartweg.) On the side of a mountain, near 
the Truckee lake, on the eastern side of the 
Sierra Nevada, Mr. Bryant found a most 
delicious raspberry, ripe and in full perfection 
(August) ; he thought its flavour fully equal 
or superior to any cultivated raspberry. The 
native fruits, however, do not appear nume- 
rous. The islands near the mouth of the 
Sacramento River furnish a small acid grape 
in abundance ; and a fruit was met with, 
produced by a shrub four to six feet high, in 
appearance like a whortle-berry, and not 
unlike it in flavour ; this was found on hills 
near the Great Salt Lake, and is used by the 
Indians. In the Bear Valley was seen a small 
tree, growing ten or twelve feet high, bearing 
reddish berries, called manzinata ; the flavour 
is agreeably acid, something like that of the 
apple ; these trees shed their bark annually, 
leaving a smooth surface. A small bitter 
cherry was also met with. In the valley of 
the Weber, and elsewhere, pulverised sun- 
flower seeds were found to be used as food by 
the Indians ; and in the Bear Valley were seen 
some large patches of wild peas. (Bryant.) 
