10 THE FLORIST. 



this coast, very similar to that found near Valparaiso. The Francoa 

 haufi-s down its bunches of pale red flowers; and Avhere the soil is 

 driest, an Orchid, of no great show, it is true, like our northern ones, 

 but enriched with a fragrance like that of the Orange-flower, blooms 

 in the depth of winter. It is used by the natives medicinally, as is 

 also a small Anagallis, which, at first sight, appears perfectly similar 

 to that of Eiu'ope. In many places the steep wall of rocks which 

 borders the shore is broken by guUeys, through which clear stream- 

 lets trickle ; and here a new harvest awaits the collector. The com- 

 mon Fuchsia grows here in company with another kind, the branches 

 of which, in spring, before the leaves come out, are covered all over 

 with short- stemmed pink flowers. Between these grow Arbutuses, 

 the berries of which are used by dishonest wine-sellers to impart a 

 strongly intoxicating quality to their liquors, much to the detriment 

 of their simple customers, who are thrown into a violent delirium by 

 it. The Weismanuia displays its finely feathered leaves close by the 

 evergreen Coriaria ; and the beautiful Myrtle family, found all over 

 Chili, from the shores of the sea to the snows of the Andes, appears 

 here under new and peculiar forms. When, after much difiiculty, 

 and probably vdth many a tumble, you have at length reached the 

 top of the mountain which forms the peninsula, you find yourself in 

 a verdant wood of lofty trees, the stems of which are, in many in- 

 stances, thickly covered "snth moss. The Flora which crowns this 

 height, even after such an introduction, is indeed enchanting. The 

 Guevina, whose nuts surpass those of Europe in flavour, but which 

 can only be enjoyed w^hile fresh, w^hen the bitter skin which covers 

 the kernel, and which soon dries fast on, can be rubbed off, reminds 

 one of the New Holland Flora, the parasite Ferns, and various 

 climbers, of that of the tropics; and he that has the vegetation of 

 Northern Chili fresh in his recollection wdll rather suppose that he 

 has wandered in that dii'ection from Valparaiso, than that he has 

 approached the cooler regions of the south. The Lapageria sends 

 outs its fine entangled shoots from bush to bush, and while its dark- 

 green shining foliage midergoes no change from the A'arying seasons, 

 adorns itself A\ith its bright-red Lily-like blossoms just at that time 

 of the year when all the surrounding vegetation is at a stand from 

 the near approach of the rainy season. From this peculiarity and 

 the splendour of its blossoms, the natives are in the habit of forming 

 those beautiful garlands, wdth which, after the old fashion of their 

 original country, they decorate the crosses in the streets and churches 

 during the congenial month of the Chilian May. From February to 

 July, through all the storms of Avinter, does it adorn the sleeping 

 woods ; and it is with regret that I hear that all attempts to trans- 

 plant it to Europe have hitherto been unsuccessful.'- The Avooded 



* This is no longer the case: Messrs. Low and others have plants of it, 

 and your intelligent correspondent, Mr. Houlston, iniorms me that it is doing 

 well in the Royal Gardens at Kew, on the back wall of a greenhouse with a 

 north aspect. Flowering during the rainy season of Chili, when the sky is 

 almost constantly overcast, though the temperature is mild, it will neither bear 

 ex] osure to our summer sun nor to our winter cold. 



