Falklands, etc.'] FLORA ANTARCTICA. 277 



with some allied species from Peru, are perhaps the most insignificant plants of the whole natural order, and especially 

 of the genus of Myrtles ; though the M. Nummularis, by contributing largely to the formation of peat, performs a highly 

 important function in the economy of nature. The leaves are often preserved quite entire some feet below the 

 surface of the soil, and I was able to recognize earth, sent to the Royal Gardens at Edinburgh from New Zealand, 

 as having come originally from the Falkland Islands or South America, because of the abundance of leaves of this plant 

 contained in it. 



3. EUGENIA, Mich. 



1. Eugenia apiculata, DC. Prodr. vol. iii. p. 276. Hook, et Am. in Bot. Misc. v. iii. p. 321. 



Var. /3, Ami/an, foliis glaberrimis \-\ pollicaribus late ovalibus, pedicellis omnibus unifloris. 



Hab. Var. /S, Chonos Archipelago ; C. Darwin, Esq. 



A very variable plant ; apparently not uncommon in Chili, between the Andes and the sea-coast, and from 

 Concepcion to the Chonos Archipelago. The pedicels are exceedingly various in length, when they are much elongated 

 the plant becomes E. affinis, Gill., and I am inclined to consider the E. Gilliesii, H. and A., as another variety. 

 The original species has leaves slightly hairy beneath, with a rufous pubescence. None of the numerous specimens 

 that I have seen are in fruit, and the genus therefore is doubtful. 



2. Eugenia Darivinii, Hook, fil.; rarais teretibus, cortice rirnoso einereo, junioribus pubescentibus, 

 foliis petiolatis glaberrimis coriaceis elliptico-oblongis abrupte acuminatis subenerviis obscure punctatis 

 margine inerassato, pedunculis terminalibus lateralibusque puberulis folio aequilongis erectis paucis unifloris 

 aliisque racemosis pedicellis oppositis, floribus parvis, calyce depresso quinquefido segmentis obtusis, stami- 

 nibus plurimis petalis eueullatis bis longioribus. 



Hab. South Chili, Cape Tres Montes ; C. Darwin, Esq. 



Frutex ? Folia coriacea, J unc. longa, i lata, nervis lateralibus divaricatis. Pedunculi infra calycem articulati, 

 minutissime bracteolati, pedicellis basi bracteolatis. Calyx 2 lin. latus, segmentis patentibus. Petala alba. Stylus 

 elongatus, validus. Ovarium immaturum trilocidare ?, loculis bi-ovidatis. 



Without the ripe fruit I am unable to refer this plant satisfactorily to its genus ; it accords sufficiently with 

 many Chilian species of Myrtacea which have been hitherto placed in Eugenia. 



A very great number of shrubby Myrteee inhabit the Chilian coast, between Chiloe and Concepcion ; a singular 

 circumstance when it is considered how suddenly they cease to the southward of Cape Tres Montes. Probably no 

 less than fourteen species occur within these limits, whilst not one is to be found in the Strait of Magalhaens, only 

 three hundred miles further south, having a precisely similar climate, and where the features of soil and surface 

 are almost identical. The predominance of the natural family in the one case is remarkable, though not more 

 than it is in New Zealand, where to a certain exteut they abound also, but their sudden cessation appears inexplicable 

 being unaccompanied by any complete suppression of other tribes equally numerous in Chili. Again, a casual 

 observer, on examining a collection of Chiloean plants, would be apt to conclude that these shrubby Myrteee 

 must afford a peculiar if not a predominant aspect to the vegetation, and yet we hardly see them alluded to in the 

 excellent published accounts of Chiloe, whence it is evident that botanical regions, as now defined, afford insufficient 

 criteria for obtaining a knowledge of the distribution of natural orders. That locality where a group is most fully 

 developed, where the greatest number of its species grow, may not be the one where that group is most conspicuous 

 or the individuals in greatest number. We may safely infer on this subject, that the law of nature is to be learned 

 from a knowledge of the absolute numbers of different species a country may possess, and the proportion the 

 groups bear to one another, and when gained it will be found to harmonize with other circumstances : thus we find 



3 N 



