BOLDO. 289 



Boldo. 



An odour very akin to that of the " Sweet Gale " {Myrica Gale, 

 Lin.) is yielded by the leaves and young wood of the Chilian tree 

 commonly known as " Boldo." This tree has at various times 

 been described by Botanists under the following names : — 

 Peiomus fragmns, Persoz., Bot. Mag., t. 7024 ; P. Bolclu, Feuillee, 

 Obs. PL Peruv., iii., p. 11, t. 6 ; Bentleyand Trimen, Med. Plant., 

 t. 217 ; and Molini, Storia. Xat. Chili., pp. 185 and 350 ; Bolden 

 frafirans, Jnssieu, in Annales du Museum d'Hist. Xat., xiv., p. 134, 

 and Tulasne, Monogr. des MonimiacccV, p. 410, and in Arch, der 

 Museum, viii., t. 31, f. 3 ; Boldoa fragrans, Lindley, in Bot- Peg., 

 t. 57, and C. Gay, Flora Chilena, v., p. 353, also of D. Cand. Prod., 

 vi., pt. 2, p. 673 ; Feumus Boldus, in Baillon Hist. Plant., i., fig. 

 324: Ruizia fragrans, Vvwiz and Pavon, Florae Peruvianie Prodr., 

 p. 135, t. 39, and Systema Flone Peruviani, pp. 266-278 ; Endlicher 

 Iconographia, t. 21, and Lindley, A'^eg. Kingd., p. 298, f. 205* 

 It is a native of Chili, and has not been observed in any other 

 country. In the central provinces it is very common, growing on 

 sunny hill-sides in the neighbourhood of Valparaiso, Santiago, 

 Conception, etc. Formerly it was met with only on the mountains 

 but it now grows in cultivated districts. It is never met with 

 in a forest, but always grows isolated. In a good soil its develop- 

 ment is rapid. It is cultivated in gardens on account of its 

 handsome appearance, evergreen, aromatic and medicinal leaves, 

 and the very fragrant flowers, which appear especially in Autumn, 

 but the bloom seems to be produced all the year round, 

 although the buds take a long while to mature. In cultivation 

 at Kew and the Piegents Park the tree has flowered in winter. 



This shrub attains a height of 10 to 20 feet, having cylindrical 

 branches bearing many cylindrical, opposite branchlets, covered 

 with a thin, pale grey-brown, nearly smooth bark, which is- 

 adherent to the wood, corrugated longitudinally, and having 

 scattered lenticels. The young twigs are rough, with stellate 

 hairs. The bark and the young twigs are very aromatic ; the 



* The tree is also referred to in Journ. de Pharm. and de Cliim. [4], xv., 

 p. 223, and xvi., p. 191; Pharm. Journ. [3], iii., p. 323, and v., pp. 405 and 453 •,. 

 Year-hook of Pharm., 1873, p. 97 ; also under the title of " Etude sur le Boldo "" 

 in a "These presentee et soutenue a I'EcoIe superieure de Pharmacie de Paria 

 par Claude Yerne, 1874. 

 V 



