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I have found only one species of this genus, which I call imbrkata on account of Its imbricated leaves, 



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and which may be defined as follows : 



A. imbrkata, foliis octonis imbricatis ovato-lanccolatis mucronatis perennantibus. 



Pinus Araucana. Moliii. Sagg. sulla Storia Nat. del Chili, j,. 182. 



7V«;^c«.rectissimus, 150 pedes s^p^ alius, coma frondosissima conico-pyramidali terminatus : cujus cortex 

 est fungosus, vald6 rimosus, crassitie semipalmari. Rami verticiUati, sex septemve in singulis verticdlis, et 

 s^piis octo in inferioribus, horizontales, extremltatibus inflexo-adscendentibus. Uamuli erecti. Folia imbricata, 

 sessilia, subdecurrentia, versus basin incrassata, ovato-lanceolata, stricta, apice rigido-mucronata, verticdiata, 

 sena,septena octonaqne, eoncava, rigida, glaberrima, nitida, coriacea, perennantia, margine cartilaginea, 

 inferids subcarinata, notata lineis longitudinaUbus utrinque pnnctatis. Amenta masculina in distinctd arbore, 

 et in apice ramulorum, quatuor, quinque, sexve aggregata, pedunculata, ovato-cylindrica, dipsaciformia, crecta, 

 sublutea: squamce arctd inibricatce, minores quam in Acre f<Kmmeo. 



Strobili cordiformes, solitarii, cernui, tcrminales, brevit^r pedunculati, capitis humani magnitudine: Squamce 

 cuneiformes, glabra;, acumine longo subulato terrainatie, corlaceo-Hgnosse. 



Semhia cuneiformia, Sicpius gibba, gemina, tegumento coriaceo castanea; coloris. Favon in I. c. 



Habitat copiosissim^ in Sylvis Chili (Cordilleras de los Andes vulg6 nominatis) et prope Araucum et in 

 montibus Cararaavida, Naguelbuta, Tueassel, Santa Barbara, Nacimicmto, et juxta Oppidum Conceptionis Chili. 

 Floret Septembri, Octobri, et Novembri. Appellatus vulgo Pino dc Chile et Peguen. Pavon in I c. 



The wood of this tree is of a yellowish white, fibrous and full of very beautiful veins, capable of being 

 polished and worked with facility. It is probably the best adapted for ship-building, as has been shewn by the 

 experiments made by Don Francisco Dendariarena in the year 1780, in consequence of which orders were given 

 to supply the squadron commanded by Don Antonio Bacaro, then at anchor in the port of Talcaguano. 



The resin abounding iu all parts of the tree is white, its smell like that of frankincense, its taste not unpleasant. 

 It is apphed in plaster as a powerful remedy for contusions and putrid ulcers; it cicatrizes recent wounds, It 

 strengthens fractures and relaxations, it mitigates headaches, and is used as a diurectic (in pIUs) to fiicilltate and 

 cleanse venereal ulcers. The Indians make use of tlie fruit of this tree as a veiy nourishing food ; they eat it 

 raw, as well as boiled and roasted j with it they form pastry, and distill from it a spirituous liquor. There 

 are stated times to collect the fruit, which they preserve to make use of as required. 



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Messieurs Lamarck and de Jussieu saw in Paris the specimens, which I had given to M. Dombey ; and although 

 Lamarck refers to them, without mentioning the description, which I also gave to M. Dombey, I fear that he 

 made no use of it, as Jussieu, the possessor of the specimens, in speaking of the female flowers, does not take 

 upon himself to decide, whether the scales, which erown the nut, are stigmas or not; and which M. Lamarck 

 says could only be detennined in Chili. They proved without doubt, tlieir talent and aeuteness; but they had 

 not the opportunity that I had, of examining the tree itself. 



I observed, amongst other things, that the interior of each scale had two ovaries, which Molina had also 



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remarked; but the French professors said that it had only one, and, consequently, that the nut which followed 

 in each scale was solitary. M. de Jussieu was, likewise, mistaken in calling the testa or covering of the nuts 

 evalvular and without sutures. As far as relates to the anther, Jussieu certainly explained himself better than 

 Lamarck; he says that they were 10 or 12, and I have always found them in gi-eater number. I omit other 

 mistakes, as they do not belong to the fructification, in which the characters above mentioned ought to be 

 reformed. 



The preceding elaborate account is taken from a valuable paper of Don Joseph Pavon's, inserted In the 

 first volume of the " Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Madrid." In a letter which I have 

 lately received, M. Pavon mentions an Important particular, not noticed in the above description, namely, that 

 the male tree is not half the size of tlie female, seldom exceeding 40 feet In height, with the leaves very much 

 like those of the Araucaria Brasiliana, although of a different texture and colour. lam indebted to M. Pavon 

 for native specimens of It, and for the drawing from which the greater part of the fine engravlu"- accompanyin'^ 

 this account was taken. Figures A, D, E, and F, have been added from specimens collected in the neighbour- 

 hood of Mendozii in Chili, by Mr. Meiizics in Vancouver's Voyage, and now deposited in the Banksian 

 Herbarium. 



