10:^ THE PLANT WORLD. 



Ill some parts the Oxalis species Avitli fleshy, scalv, edible rhi- 

 zomes, and flowers like in habit to the Campanulas are abundant. 

 One of these in the Hatcher collection is remarkable for its tri- 

 morphous stamens and styles. 



One of the Euphorbias {E. serpois H. B. & K. ) reaches to 

 Xorth America and seems to be identical with an oriental plant. 



The Patagonian Empcfnnn seems identical with the Eu- 

 rasiatic E. iiifjriiin, except its red berries; it abounds in the 

 steppes, funning the chief food of the (jnails and partridges. Of 

 the Anacardiacea^, Schhius (Davaua) de pendens Ort. and S. 

 moJJe L., the incense-bush, are chief, yielding an important 

 purgative resin, and having sngary edible drupes. Fragments 

 of the leaf of the molle when placed in water move by jerks, 

 from the escape of the volatile oil. 



The genus Ugni brings up the problem of names. The 

 myrtaceoU'S shrub described liy Molina in 1828 was termed Mijr- 

 tus Ufjni, changed by Hooker & Arnott in 18;]3 into Eugonia 

 ugni; by Turczaninow in 1848 into TJgni molinae ; and under 

 new rules (not yet authoritative), I have been impelled reluct- 

 antly to give it the inelegant name of Ugn i ug)i i. If permitted 

 I should greatly prefer to restore the original name in this and 

 all similar cases, only deposing the original generic, and pro 

 moting the original specific name; thus giving Ugni myrtus as 

 the new name. 



The Halorhagacese can claim the famous Gunneras of Pat- 

 agonia and Chili. One of them, G. cliilensis L., is the giant of 

 herbs, like an overgrown rhuljarb. The small G. mageUantca 

 Lam. is unique, a rootstock crowned by two long-stalked reni- 

 form leaves and a peduncle crowned by a spike of crimson 

 drupelets ( dioeci ous ) . 



The Umbellifera? are represented by some of their globe- 

 trotters, and also by some famous specialists. Of these last the 

 Azorella (Bolax) is famous, making densely pulvinate clumps 

 of interlacing branches with a veneering of leaves which set off 

 their pretty star-shaped yellow flowers ; the mass hard enough 

 to require a hatchet, and old enough to be probably centenarian. 



