List of the Plants of Chile. 93 



while it declaims against the favor which their products find in our 

 markets. Apropos of the filamentous plants, we will point to the 

 facility of introducing the cultivation of the Phormium tenax, Forst. 

 generally called in Europe JYew Zealand flax, because the inhabit- 

 ants of that island employ this vegetable production in the manufac- 

 ture of cloths and cordage. This plant is very common in the stoves 

 and green-houses of Europe, and in the southern provinces of France 

 and England, it begins to be cultivated in the open air. Consequently, 

 we should think that the climate of Chile is favorable for it, and that 

 in a few years rich harvests might be gathered. The experiments 

 which have been rriade on the strength of its filaments have afforded 

 the most satisfactory results. The mode of preparing it is very sim- 

 ple, so that every thing tends to recommend this new branch of in- 

 dustry. 



Lippia Citriodora. Kunth. There is scarcely a garden in which 

 we do not meet with the citron, and in fact it merits the appreciation 

 of florists, on account of the beauty of its foliage and the pleasant 

 odor which it exhales. Cultivated with care, it might be made a 

 beautiful plant of embellishment. The infusion of its leaves is em- 

 ployed in hemicraneal pains, and in all the class of nervous and hys- 

 terica] afl:ections. The L.. nodiflora, Rich, grows in fields and olito- 

 ries. There is a variety entirely joined to the earth and smaller than 

 the others in all its parts. It is common in sandy and arid spots, on 

 the plain, and near torrents, where it forms a beautiful sod. 



Lithospermum Apuhim. L. This species appears to be indigenous, 

 since it is met with in the fields and in cultivated places, and in pas- 

 tures distant from the hills. It would be necessary to compare it with 

 that of Europe, to know the difference, if any exists. It has neither 

 vulgar name nor known use. 



Litrea venenosa. Miers. Every body knows or has heard of the 

 litre, a tree very common in the highlands and plains. I have seen 

 some six yards high, but the diameter is small. The wood is solid 

 and hard. It serves for the knees of vessels, for wheels and axles 

 of carts, and for the points of ploughs. It is substituted for iron in 

 many cases. Its root, sawn into boards, is beautifully mottled, and 

 is used for inlaid work. It is said that the shade of this tree is dan- 

 gerous ; that those who lie in it, swell in a most extraordinary man- 

 ner, and the contact of its leaves produces pimples and flea-bite ef- 

 florescence. It is generally believed, also, diat refrigerants and ano- 

 dynes are the remedies in these cases. The family of the Terehin- 



