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FLORA OF PATAGONIA. 477 



is probably most common in Patagonia, as it is included in all 

 the collections from that region, and has received a native Indian 

 name. It is not properly included in the floras of Chili or 



Brazil. 



Bixacejb. 



107. Azara mtcrophtlla, Hook, f. M. Antarct. 244? 

 Uncertain because the specimen has neither flower nor fruit, hut 

 closely resembling the foliage of tbat species, which is known 

 only from Southern Chili and the island of Cbiloe. A further 

 reason for doubt is that so few species are common to the opposite 

 coasts of the South- American continent. 



<( 



PORTULACEJl. 



4. Portulaca grandiflora, Rook. Bot. Mag. tab. 2885. 



Flowers in June and February ; abundant among the sandhills 

 near the coast of North Patagonia ; flowers a brilliant magenta." 

 -~ W. Andrews. This appears not to be a common species, but has 

 oeen collected at various spots in the territory extending from 

 Mendoza to North Patagonia. Specimens collected by Balansa 

 «i Paraguay which I have seen in the Kew Herbarium apparently 

 belong to an undescribed species allied to P. grandiflora. The 

 flowers are said to be of a purple colour. 



19. Portulaca oleracea, L. "Much esteemed by the 

 natives as a cleanser of the blood, is eaten raw as a salad or 

 foiled and dressed as spinach. Local name Verdu larga ; found 

 chiefly near rivers, an d also near the coast.'"— W. Andrews. This 

 18 one of the most widely spread of cosmopolitan weeds, being 

 Wid in almost all temperate and tropical parts of the earth, 

 not only i n continental regions and Australia, but also in Mada- 

 gascar, the islands of the Indian Ocean, in most of the Pacific 

 elands, aud even in many remote oceanic islands of volcanic 

 "^gin. It may be conjectured that the agency of birds as well 

 as that of man has been requisite to achieve the result. 



Another plant of the same natural order, Grahamia bracteata, 

 pflli was collected in Patagonia by Tweedie, and, more recently, 

 ,n the valley of the Eio Negro by Niederlein. It is common in 



oi 



s °me parts of Argentaria, but is apparently confined to the east 



«& of the Andes. 



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