Chap. VIII. 
BUSHES OF THE MEZQUITE. 
315 
by columnar rocks. As in all the mountains which enclose 
the Rio Grande, detached bushes of Mezquite, Larrea, and 
various kinds of Artemisia?, with an occasional Yucca or 
Cactus, compose the characteristic vegetation of the fore- 
ground of this landscape. Where sandy alluvial masses 
form the soil, the mezquite 1 is quite the predominant 
plant. I do not know whether all the mezquite bushes or 
trees, from Texas to California^ are included by botanists 
in the single species Algarobbia glandulosa. If so, this 
mimosa-like plant is a perfect vegetable Proteus. In new 
Mexico it is a shrub, with branches and twigs spreading 
out upon the ground, and springing directly from the roots : 
in Texas, the plant is represented by a small tree : on the 
Gila and Colorado, it is a tree of considerable size, regular 
growth, and grouped into small woods and groves. In 
comparing these varieties, their appearance is so different 
that an unscientific man may well imagine that he has 
presented to him various species of the same genus. The 
Mexicans distinguish two kinds : the pods of one are 
edible, those of the other are not considered so. I shall 
have occasion to mention this shrub or tree hereafter, 
and will then complete what I have to say respecting it. 
On the middle section of the Rio Grande, the mez- 
quite bush generally grows upon little hillocks of loose 
sand, which are drifted around them by the wind. The 
plant here evidently prefers such a soil ; for where the 
ground is firm and strong, the Larrea Mexicana takes its 
place. The mezquite bushes and their sand-hills are a 
favourite resort of rattlesnakes and tarantulas. In some 
1 The North Americans, who muti- 
late every Spanish and Mexican name, 
have converted Mezquite into Musquito ; 
and from Texas to California, in books 
and newspapers, are seen the words 
" Musquito - tree," " Musquito - shrub," 
"Musquito -grass," and so on. The 
word has no connection with musquito 
or gnat, but is an Aztec word : — Mez- 
quitl. The grass takes its name from 
the shrub, as in Texas it grows in the 
same districts. 
