Nothofagus 555 



that of the European beech, and apparently suitable to take the place of the lower 

 grades of mahogany in the manufacture of furniture. It cracks, however, badly in 

 drying, and will require very careful seasoning. In the forests of Chilian (lat. 36), 

 N. obliqua grows up to 4000 or 5000 feet, being replaced at higher elevations by 

 A'^ antarctica and N. piimilio ; and reaches its southern limit in the region of 

 Lake Llanquihue. A photograph by Mr. Bartlett Calvert, who accompanied me 

 on my, journey, shows the appearance of this tree in the forest at about 3000 

 feet, near the source of the Renaico River (Plate 156). Here the undergrowth is 

 usually composed of a dense thicket of the Chilean bamboo {Chusquea sp.) ; and in 

 the more open places the ground is often carpeted with a dense bed oi Alstrcemeria 

 aurantiaca, whose brilliant orange flowers produce a most lovely effect. In the 

 wetter places it is associated with Driniys Winteri and many beautiful shrubs and 

 herbaceous plants, oi -which Eucryphia pinnatifida, Embothrium coccineum, Tropcsolum 

 speciosum, and several species of Fuchsia and Calceolaria are the choicest ornaments 

 of our gardens in the warmer and damper parts of the south-west of England and 

 Ireland. In many parts of the Chilean forests it is often covered with a lovely 

 parasitic plant, Myzodendron linearifolium, DC.,^ which hangs in silvery masses from 

 the branches. 



Nothofagus Dombeyi is known to the Chileans by its Indian name of Coigue, and 

 is a large and common tree in Chile. It is usually associated with N. obliqua, but 

 does not extend so far to the northward, not being found to the north of the Maule 

 river. It is widely spread in Araucania, Valdivia, and Llanquihue, and occurs also 

 on the Argentine side of the frontier. It grows on the island of Chiloe, and has 

 been collected on the river Aysen (lat. 45) ; but its extreme southern limit is not 

 accurately known. 



Nothofagus nitida, which has been much confused with N. Dombeyi, is a common 

 forest tree in the coast mountains of Valdivia, and grows on Chiloe and the 

 Guaitecas Islands. The distribution of this species has not yet been satisfactorily 

 determined. 



Nothofagus procera, known as Rauli, is less common than N. obliqua, to 

 which it is allied, and usually grows scattered in the forest. Its northerly limit lies 

 between 35 and 36 lat., and it does not occur farther south than the province of 

 Valdivia, where it becomes a stately tree. It does not cross the frontier into 

 Argentina. 



Nothofagus antarctica is widely distributed, extending from about lat. 38' to 

 Tierra del Fuego. It is the commonest species which I found on my tour at high 

 elevations, both on the Chilean and Argentine sides of the frontier. It is associated 

 with Araucaria at 4000 feet, and is common also in the plain of Valdivia in marshy 

 situations. In the mountains around the great lake of Nahuelhuapi, the leaves of 

 this species had already assumed their autumnal tint in February. N. antarctica and 

 N. betuloides are the dominant trees in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego ; and 



' 1 found this species in the low country about Temuco in Chile, and also on the Argentine side of the frontier in two or 



three localities. Two other species also occur : M. oblongifolium, DC, which I found on Nothofagus antarctica, near the 



baths of Chilian at 5000 to 7000 feet elevation ; and M. punctulattim, DC. , which I gathered on Nothofagus Dombeyi at Lake 



Meliquina, and in the dense evergreen forest which skirts the glaciers of the great Tronador mountain at 2000 feet in lat. 40. 



Ill P 



