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List of the Plants of Chile. 69 



Aloe. A fatty plant cultivated in gardens and vulgarly called 

 Savila. Its parenchyma is employed to soften corns and its juice is 

 purgative. 



Alstroemeria. I have met with two species of this genus. The 

 first is the A. Simsii, Sprengel ; called clavclillo ia the country where 

 it is very common and Peregr'ma in gardens, where it is cultivated for 

 the elegance of its flowers. The color of its petals varies much, as 

 well as the form of its leaves which are sometimes naked and some- 

 times velvety. It is probable there are two distinct species. The 

 other grows in stony places, along torrents and particularly near San 

 Fernando. It has some analogy to the A. revoluta, Ruiz and Pa- 

 von. The roots of these plants are garnished with oblong and dia- 

 phanous tubercles and yield an abundant fecula similar to that ob- 

 tained from the A. Ligtti, Linn, in the province of Conception and 

 that which is called Ligtu or Chuno ; it would be useful to attempt 

 the cultivation of these. 



Althea rosea. Linn. 



f M 



va Jaspeada ; it comes from Europe. The variety and duration of 

 its great flowers give place for the plants to propagate. The infu- 

 sion of its flowers is administered in catarrhal affections and the de- 

 coction of its root as a sudorific. 



Amaranthus. Some species are cultivated in gardens, as the A. 

 tricolor, Linn, (ala de loro) the A. hypochondriacus, Linn. A. hybri- 

 dusj Linn, (penacho) ; others are wild though probably introduced. 

 I have noted the A. sylvestris, Desf. the A. adscendens, Lois, A. 

 flams, Linn, and A. prostratus, Balbis. This last is found every 

 where and is distinguished by its flowers with two stamina and its 

 sharp root. It is met with sometimes in shady places with almost 

 straight shoots. All these plants are called bledo. Its leaves when 

 tender are eaten as spinage. 



Amaryllis. The species common to the country are commonly 

 named Amencay. I have found die A. Chilensis, Herit. ; in sandy 

 and barren situations in the neighborhood of rivers. The A. Ignea, 

 which Lindley now refers to the genus Phycella, is very common 

 in shady and humid places, about hills. The A. formosissima, 

 Linn. A. Regince, Linn, (flor del irio,) and A. ornata, Linn, (nardo) 

 are cultivated in gardens. I would observe here that the lovers of 

 floriculture, who make great sacrifices to procure foreign plants 

 with a view of augmenting their collections should collect all the 

 bulbous plants of the country known under the name of flores de 



