PREFACE XXI 



a Haw-thorne, but that it is greene, each being of the bignesse 

 of a Pepper- corne, and euery of them contayning within four 

 or five granes, twice as bigge as a Musterd-seed, which broken 

 are white within, as the good Pepper, and bite much like it, but 

 hotter. The barke of this Tree hath savour of all kinde of 

 Spices together, most comfortable to the Stomack, and held to 

 be better than any Spice whatsoeuer." 



The Holly-leafed Barberry grows so densely in places as to 

 make parts of the forest absolutely impenetrable. Its thorns are 

 many times more formidable than those of Berheris huxifolia. 



Parasitic on trees is the Mistletoe-like Myzodendron pundu- 

 latum. A hoary grey Lichen (Usnea), streaming in long festoons, 

 imparts to the forest a truly eerie and ghost-like appearance. 



Fungi are one of the wonders of the forest. Mr. George 

 Massee, who has himself studied this flora in Tierra del Fuego, 

 considers the Tree Morels especially interesting. Cyttaria 

 darwinii, C. herterii^ and C. hookeri^ he says, grow on living 

 branches of different species of Beech {Fagus) ; and are also 

 met with on species of Fagus in Tasmania and New Zealand. 

 Everywhere these Fungi are a staple article of food to the 

 aboriginals. Polyjporus fuegianus forms large bracket-like out- 

 growths on the trunks of trees ; and Fistulma antarctica — 

 a close ally of the British Beefsteak Fungus (i^. hepatica), 

 which it is said to surpass in delicacy of flavour — also occurs 

 abundantly in similar situations. 



There are not many Flowers. The most beautiful is a white 

 Snowdrop-like Orchis ( Godonorchis lessomi), with a faint sweet 

 smell. The Yellow Violet {Viola maculata) is exceedingly 

 pretty, but scentless. What interested me more than all was 

 the tiny Ruhus geoides, growing flat on Moss-covered boulders. 



Some four species of Ferns occur : — a variety of the Avidely 

 distributed very variable Aspidium aculeatum; Asplenium magel- 

 lanicum; Hymenophyllum wilsoni; and Lomaria. 



At the lower altitudes, Mosses — principally Bartramia — 

 completely cover everything like a heavy fall of snow, so 



