Nothofagus antarctica is widely spread in temperate 
South America from lat. 38° S. to Tierra del Fuego, 
where, as in Patagonia, it and the evergreen J. betuloides 
are the dominant trees. But while NV. antaretica, in one 
or other of its forms, has several times been introduced to 
the gardens of Great Britain—its earliest introduction was 
effected by Sir Joseph Hooker, 70 years ago, when he was 
attached to the famous expedition under Sir James Ross 
in the “ Erebus” and “ Terror ”-——it never appears to have 
become permanently established in this country. A goodly 
number of fine examples of its natural companion, J. betu- 
loides, may be met with in the milder parts of the British 
Isles, but of NV. antarctica itself there are few. Indeed, if 
we except the young trees raised from seed brought from 
Chili by Mr. H. J. Elwes in 1902, there is but one well- 
known specimen ; this grows at Hafodunos in Denbighshire, 
and is balieved to be over 30 years old. From this it 
would seem as if the species is not altogether adapted to 
our climate. Yet the young trees in the collection at Kew 
are growing with remarkable vigour, and passed through 
the trying winter of 1908-9 without injury. 
According to Mr. Elwes, N. antarctica is the commonest 
Species met with by him, during his South American 
journey, at high elevations on both sides of the Chili- 
Argentine frontier. He found it associated with Araucaria 
at 4,000 ft. above sea-level, and it occurs frequently in 
marshy situations on the plain of Valdivia. The variety 
here figured is known in Chili as “Mere.” It forms a 
dense scrub on the Argentine side of the frontier; near the 
Baths of Chillian it goes up to 7,000 ft. or even higher, 
and covers the summits of the mountains round Lake 
Nahuel-huapi up to 6,000 ft. When seen here by Mr. 
Elwes in the month of February the leaves had turned a 
brilliant red. This variety was again met with by the 
Princeton University Expedition growing in Patagonian 
Swamps and in woods at Chubut in the Argentine Andes. 
The individual which supplied the material on which our 
figure is based was raised from seed collected by Mr. Elwes — 
near Lake Meliquina. It is now a small tree, 16 ft. high; 
it flowered very freely in a clump of heaths near the 
Pagoda at Kew in May, 1909, The plants at Kew are 
grown in various soils; those in the average sandy loam 
