176 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



special use except to aid in clothing the parched hills 

 of the lower region of Chili. It would seem that all 

 these trees might be successfully introduced into the 

 warmer parts of southern Europe, especially the south 

 of Spain and Sicily, and the Qiiillaja would doubtless 

 prove to be of some economic value. 



To the European traveller the most remarkable 

 vegetable inhabitant of the dry hills of Central Chili is 

 the tall cactus {Cereiis qiiisco), which I had first seen 

 on the way from Valparaiso to Santiago. They were 

 abundant on the lower slopes about Cauquenes, the 

 stiff columnar stems averaging about a foot in 

 diameter. I was told that the plant was now to be 

 found in flower, and was surprised to observe on the 

 trunks, as I approached, clusters of small deep-red 

 flowers that appeared very unlike anything belonging 

 to this natural family. Nearer inspection showed 

 that they had none but an accidental connection with 

 the plant on which they grew. The genus Loranthiis, 

 allied to our common European parasite, the mistletoe, 

 is widely spread throughout the world, chiefly in the 

 tropics. From three to four hundred different species 

 are known, nearly all parasites on other plants ; as a 

 rule, each species being confined to some special 

 group, and many of them known to fix itself only 

 upon a single species. Botanists in various regions 

 have remarked that there is frequently a marked 

 resemblance between the foliage of the parasitic 

 Loranthis and that of the plants to which it is 

 attached ; but it is especially remarkable that the 

 only species which is known to grow upon the leafless 

 plants of the cactus family should itself be the only 



