22 
BOTANY. 
trunks—several springing from the same root—arch over till the top touches the ground, when 
it takes root. Where the clumps of vine maple are numerous, and, as is frequently the case, 
they are contiguous, their intermingled and rooted branches constitute an almost impassable 
harrier to the traveller. 
The vine maple requires considerable moisture for its vigorous growth, and it therefore be¬ 
comes more and more abundant as one approaches the coast. There, in many localities, it forms 
thickets, which are regarded by the inhabitants as well nigh impenetrable. 
The foliage of the vine maple in its general aspect resembles that of the sugar maple of the 
east. The wood is hard, heavy, and fine grained, and is much used for small articles, when 
these qualities are required. 
Acer glabrum, Torr., and Acer tripartitum, Nutt., are shrubs, which are not uncommon in 
the Cascade mountains. 
Arctostaphylos glauca, Lindl. (Plate III.) Manzanita. 
A. glauca, Lindl., Bot. Reg. t. 1791. 
Xerobotrys glaucus, Nutt., Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 
Description .—A large evergreen shrub, growing in clumps ; bark red, exfoliating ; leaves 
ovoid, smooth, coriaceous, entire, set vertically ; flowers in terminal racemes, urceolate, pinkish 
white ; fruit spheroidal, flattened, black, smooth ; seeds triangular, rough. 
This shrub is highly characteristic of the Californian flora, being abundant on all the hills 
and mountains, and extending northward into Oregon ; near the Columbia, however, it is gene¬ 
rally replaced by A. tomentosa, which has much the same habit, and is very closely allied to it, 
but apparently specifically distinct. The manzanita has received the Spanish name which it 
bears from a fancied resemblance of its fruit to a little apple. 
It usually grows in clumps, six, eight, or ten feet in height, divided into many trunks, 
which are rarely larger than one’s arm, covered with a red exfoliating bark. 
The evergreen leaves are oval in form, about an inch in length, thick and shining, and (un¬ 
like those of most plants) are set vertically. The flowers are urn-shaped, considerably resem¬ 
bling those of some species of Vaccinium. The fruit grows in clusters, and is first white, sub¬ 
sequently red, and finally black. It has the form, of a flattened spheroid, a quarter to three- 
eights of an inch in diameter, and is nearly filled with triangular stony seeds. These seeds are 
covered by a pulp, which has the consistence and taste of that of the fruit of the “Black 
Haw.” 
The manzanita berry is regarded as eatable, and is the favorite food of the grizzly bear. It 
was frequently eaten by our party, but in most circumstances is too dry, and has too little flavor 
to be highly relished. As an ornamental shrub, the manzanita is well worthy of introduction 
into the parks and pleasure grounds of the eastern States ; and since it grows up to the line of 
perpetual snow on the mountains of California, it would doubtless be hardy in any part of the 
Union. 
The wood of this shrub is very dense and hard, of a reddish color, and somewhat resembles 
that of the apple tree. No use is made of it in the arts at present, except that rustic seats are 
sometimes formed from its crooked and twisted branches ; for which purpose it is exceedingly 
well adapted. 
