DUSEN : THE VEGETATION OF WESTERN PATAGONIA. 15 



Pers., Tetragonia expansa Ait., Ambrina ambrosioides Spach., Plantago 

 lanceolata L., Stachys chonotica Hook, fil., Stellaria cuspidata Willd., 

 Uncinia phleoides Pers., Carex sp., presumably C. darwinii Boott. and 

 Blechnum chilense (Kaulf.) Mett. 



The belt of thickets is chiefly composed of Rhaphithamnus cyanocarpus 

 Miers, a couple of species of Eugenia, Fuchsia magellanica and Escal- 

 lonia macrantha Hook, et Arn. More sparingly occur Berberis darwinii 

 and B. microphylla, Ribes magellanicum Poir., Cynoctonum pachyphyllum 

 Decaisne, Myrtns ugni and Pseiidopanax Icetemrens. Mitraria coccinea is 

 here rare. Both of the outer belts have a width of only a few meters each. 



The most important constituents of the forest are Caldcluvia paniculata, 

 Laurelia aromatica, Weinmannia trichosperma, Lomatia ferruginea and 

 Drimys winteri. Though not absent, the two species of beech, Notho- 

 fagus dombeyi and N. nitida, are not conspicuous here. This forest is 

 considerably taller and less dense than the beech-forest and consequently 

 admits more light than the latter. The undergrowth, therefore, at least 

 in places, is very luxuriant, its most conspicuous element being the Clms- 

 qnea grass already referred to, probably C. valdiviensis Desv., the climbing 

 propensities of which I have pointed out. In more open and lighter places 

 it becomes very dense, but elsewhere only sparingly so. Besides these, 

 the highest plants of the undergrowth are Pseiidopanax Icetemrens, Rhaph- 

 ithanuiiis cyanocarpus, a couple of Eztgenia species, Tepualia stipularis, 

 Dacostea ruscifolia, My osc kilos oblongus Ruiz et Pav., Philesia buxifolia, 

 Myrtus itgni Molina, Tecoma -valdimana and Lebetanthus americanus. 

 Of epiphytic plants, Mitraria coccinea, Asteranthera chiloensis, Lnzuriaga 

 radicans and Sarmienta repens are common, the last named not unfre- 

 quently occurring in masses on sloping tree-trunks. Rhodostachys sp., 

 probably R. littoralis Phil., on the other hand, is rare and restricted to 

 the outskirts of the forest. Besides, the trunks are richly clothed with 

 Hymenophyllacece and a few other ferns, and with mosses, of which I 

 should mention Hypopteryginm flexisetum, Pilotrichella krausei and P. 

 cniuingii, Metzgeriaglaberrima^vph.., Plagiochila imcialis, and/*, lechleri, 

 Madotheca subsqnarrosa N. et M. and Frullania chilensis Steph. 



A lower order of the undergrowth is composed of a few scattered herbs, 

 such as Osmorhiza berterii DC, Nertera depressa Banks, Uncinia phle- 

 oides and U. erinacea Pers., and Blechnum chilense. The moss carpeting 

 is comparatively scanty and Hepaticcz are scarce, their most important 



