1982 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



b. Species not yet introduced. 

 3. F. OBLI X QUA Mirb. The oblique-leaved Beech. 



1919 



Identification. Mem. Mus., 14. p. 466. 



Engravings. Mem. Mus., 14. t. 23. ; and 

 our ^.'1919. 



Spec. Char., 8fc. Leaves ovate-oblong 

 oblique, somewhat rhomboid ; blunt, 

 doubly serrated, entire at the base ; at- 

 tenuated into the petiole, somewhat 

 downy. Perianth of the male flowers 

 solitary, hemispherical, sinuated. Anthers 

 30 40. Cupules capsuliform, muricate, 

 4-partite; segments ovate, obtuse. Ova- 

 ries included, 3-sided ; angles winged. 

 (Mirbel.) A tall tree, a native of Chili, 



, and found by Dombey near Concepcion j 

 flowering in September. In Chili, it is 

 known by the namej of Hoble". Leaves 

 alternate, from 1 in. to 2 in. long, and 

 from 4 lines to 8 lines broad. Stipules 

 deciduous, membranaceous, lanceolate, 

 linear ; about the length of the petioles. 

 (Mirb. M^m. Mus., xiv. p. 466.) 



B. Cupule involucriform ; Segments narrow, ladniate. Ovaries laterally inserted. 

 Young leaves not plicate. 



a. Species introduced into Britain. 

 * 4. F. J5ETULoi v DES Mirb. The Birch-like, or evergreen, Beech. 



Identification. Mirb. in Mem. Mus., 14. p. 470. ; Hook, in Bot. Mag. 



Synonymc. J?etula antarctica Forst. in Comm. Goett., 9. p. 45., Willd. Sp. Pi., 4. p. 4G6. 



Engravings. Mem. Mus., 14. t. 25. ; and owe fig. 1920. 



Spec. Char., 8[C. Leaves ovate-elliptic, obtuse, crenulate, leathery, shining, glabrous ; round at the 



base, on short footstalks. Perianth of the male flowers solitary, turbinate, 5 7-lobed. Anthers 



1016. Cupules involucriform, smooth, 4-partite ; segments nearly linear, laciniate. Ovaries 



3-sided, laterally exserted ; angles marginate. (Mirbel.) An ever- 

 green tree, a native of Terra del Fuego, where it forms vast forests. 



Branches divaricate, tortuous, brownish ; young ones pubescent. 



Leaves ciliate, alternate, from 4 to 10 lines long, and from 3 to 



8 lines broad. Flowers axillary. The structure and disposition 



of the male flowers, as well as many other characters of vegetation, 



resemble those of F. antarctica Forst. ; but, according to this 



botanist, the leaves of F. antarctica^are plaited in the bud ; and 



the disk is less prolonged on one side of the petiole than on the 



other, which characters do not exist in F. tetuloldes. (Mm. Mus., 



xiv. p. 470.) The evergreen beech grows at Port Famine, Straits 



of Magellan, and in its neighbourhood, in the greatest abundance. 



It attains a very large size ; trees of 3 ft. in diameter being common, 



and there being many with'trunks 4 ft. in diameter. There is one 



tree (perhaps the very same as that mentioned by Commodore 



Byron), the trunk of which averages 7 ft in diameter to the height 



of 17 ft., and then divides into three large limbs, each of which is 



3 ft. in diameter. (See Journ. of Geo. Soc., and Sot. Mag. for June, 



1836.) This beech is also a native of Van Dieman's Land, where 



it is called the myrtle tree by the colonists. It generally grows 



in the western part of the island, where an esculent fungus is 



found in clusters around the swollen parts of its branches. This 



fungus varies in size from that of a marble to that of a walnut: 



when young, it is whitish, and covered with a skin like that of a 



young potato. This skin is easily taken off; and the remaining 



portion, when raw, tastes like cold cow-heel. When this fungus 



is matured, the skin splits, and exhibits a sort of network of a 



yellowish white colour. (See Backhouse in Gard. Mag., vol. xi. 



p. 340.; and Camp, to Bot. Mag., vol. ii. p. 340.) F. Aetuloides 



is said to have been introduced in 1830; but we have not seen the plant. 



5. F. ANTARCTICA Forst. The antarctic Beech. 



Identification. Forst. in Comment. Goett., 9. p. 24. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 460. 



Spec. Char.,Sfc. Leaves ovate, blunt, glabrous ; attenuated at the base; doubly dentate; their margins 

 naked. ( Wtlld.) A native of Terra del Fuego, and introduced in 1830. Branches rugged, tortuous. 

 Leaves alternate, petiolate, lin. long; plicate; veins on the under side somewhat downy ; the 

 teeth roundish, blunt (Willd. Sp. PI., iv. p. 460.) We have never seen the plant. 



b. Species not yet introduced into British Gardens. 

 * 6. F. DOMBE V Y/ Mirb. Dombey's, or the Myrtle-leaved ', Beech. 



Identification. Mem. Mus., 14. p. 468. ; Comp. Bot. Mag., 1. p. 301. 

 Engravings. Mem. Mus., 14. t. 24. ; and our jig. 1921. 



