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of verj thick foliage. The leaves are alternafe, 

 oval^ smoothj and of a bright green. There are 

 two varieties of this tree^ distinguished by their 

 yellow or white flowers^ which are divided into 

 eighteen narrow petals of two or three inches in 

 length. The seeds resemble cofTeej and are not 

 unlike it in taste^ but have a certain bitterness 

 that renders them unpleasant. The bark is 

 yellow, the wood grey, very hard, and much 

 used in various manufactures. 



The patasua (cinodendron patagua, gen. nov.) 

 is much valued for its flowers, which are small, 

 but resemble in shape and smell the lily. The 

 leaves are placed opposite in pairs, lanceolated. 

 serrated, and of a bright green. The trunk fre- 

 quently grow s to such a size that four men can 

 scarcely encircle it with their arms ; the wood is 

 white and easily wrought, but held in little esti- 

 mation. 



Chili, in comparison with those countries in 

 America situated between the tropics, produces 

 but few trees whose fruits are edible ; the prin- 

 cipal of those are the coconut, the pelaien, the 

 gcxiiin, the pcumo, aijd the liicuma. 



In the provinces of Quillota, Calchagua, and 

 Maule arc large forests of the coconut tree 

 (palma Chilensis). This species differs from 

 the others oT the same genus in the size of its 

 fruit, Avhich docs not usually exceed that of a 

 wahuit. The trunk is about the height and 



