838 



C. SKOTTSBERG 



and small but very numerous violet flowers all through the summer and end in a 

 terminal, naked bud. It happens that the apex of a branch which has flowered 

 profusely and produced a generation of lateral, vegetative-floral branches, dies at 

 the end of the second season. Fig. 9 e shows a fruiting branch end of March: I 

 flowered in December and continued to grow and to produce flowers, II are 

 lateral branches of which one has reached fruiting stage while the other soon 

 stopped growing. Buds in the lower axils of II may form a pair of small, reduced 

 leaves before coming to rest (Fig. 9 g). 



Seeds sown 23.3. 1918 germinated during April and May, and one plant flowered 

 for the first time in the beginning of September, 192 1. Cuniinia does well in a tem- 

 perate house and flowers and fruits freely. 



Santaluvi fernandezianmn F. Phil., "Sandalo". The sandalwood, now extinct, 

 must have been rather abundant during bygone ages, until it became a victim 

 of reckless exploitation. In 1908 I saw the last — as far as we know — tree on 

 Masatierra in the interior of Puerto (Ouebrada) Ingles; see Skottsb. / for partic- 

 ulars. I shall add here that the bark is dark brownish gray, divided in rectang- 

 ular pieces and to 12 mm thick. Sections of a stump of a dead limb measure 

 13.5x10.5 cm and show distinct rings, each with a lighter and a darker zone; 

 about 54 were counted. No rings could be distinguished in other Juan Fernandez 

 trees. The buds were described and illustrated in Skottsb. j. 56, fig. 9. The last 

 tree on Masatierra died before 191 6, I was told. Place-names such as Quebrada 

 del Sandalo, Q. del Sandalito and Rodado del Sandalo show that a species of 

 Santaluni was found all along the east side of Masafuera, where it was extermin- 

 ated a very long time ago. Johow, who devotes 5 quarto pages to a detailed 

 and interesting relation of the history oi S. fer^iandeziamim, remarks that in view 

 of the inaccessibility of a large part of Masafuera it is quite possible that numerous 

 living trees still exist on this island. However, Masafuera is much less inaccessible 

 than the interior of Masatierra, the forest patches are of very limited extent and 

 easily explored, and no trace of a living specimen has ever been discovered. 



Juania australis (Mart.) Dr., "Chonta". Palmae. The chonta palm (a name given 

 to many species of palms in the Andes) is confined to the woods of Masatierra, 

 where it ranges from Puerto Frances to Puerto Ingles and Villagra, extending 

 from about 200 m to the top of El Yunque; it cannot be called uncommon on 

 the higher montane slopes and ridges from about 500 m. Being so utterly unlike 

 all other trees in habit it can be traced quite easily with a pair of field-glasses 

 from a long distance. In old days it must have been much more frequent, but 

 as the "heart", the apex with the undeveloped leaves, is edible ("col de palma") 

 and the wood appreciated for making walking-sticks and for cabinet work, it is 

 becoming extinct in places of easy access, especially in the mountains around 

 Bahi'a Cumberland. That it has been protected by law for over 50 years seems 

 to make no difference. In less accessible places one is still — or was, at least, 

 in 191 7 — able to come across small groves of a number of tall specimens and 

 a fresh growth of vigorous young plants (PI. 96:2). There is no bird on the 

 island likely to disperse the spherical drupes which are coral red and measure 



