188 A MANUAL 0* TMB CONIFER*. 



So far as yet observed, the Araucarias are considered to be 

 dioecious plants, that is to say, the pollen bearing and ovule 

 bearing catkins are produced on different trees, and not on the 

 same tree, as in the Firs and Pines. The fertile cones are solitary 

 and erect, and each scale produces but one seed. 



The Araucarias are not absolutely dioecious, probably far from it. 

 There is a tree of Araucaria imbricata at Bicton, in Devonshire, that 

 has borne catkins of both kinds for several years past, and many 

 young plants have been raised from the seeds of its fertile cones. 

 By the kindness of the Eight Hon. Lady Eolle we are enabled to 

 give an illustration of this tree, and also of a fertile branch taken 

 from it. A fine tree at South Lytchelt, in Dorsetshire, has shown 

 the same peculiarity. As the numerous healthy trees now growing all 

 over Great Britain become cone bearing, the monoecious principle may 

 probably be found among them to an extent not hitherto suspected. 

 The difference in the sex of the trees was generally thought to give 

 rise to the difference in aspect and habit that occurs so frequently 

 among plants of the same species. The Araucarias, like other Coniferse, 

 are now known to be polymorphous, irrespective of sex, which is shown 

 by the numerous varieties and sub-varieties of nearly all the kinds 

 under cultivation, that are constantly making their appearance. 



The economic value of the Araucarias has not yet been much 

 developed. The timber of Araucaria, imbricata is used in southern 

 Chili ; the heart wood is yellowish, that more recently formed white, 

 it is very fibrous, beautifully veined, and admits of a fine polish. * 

 The timber of the Moreton Bay Pine is fine, close grained, and 

 durable. The secretions are employed for various purposes in the 

 countries in which the trees are natives ; the fragrant resin that 

 exudes from the trunk of A. brasiliensis is mixed with wax for 

 making candles. The whitish resin of A. imbricata is used by the 

 Chilians, when fresh, as a remedy for bruises, wounds, &c, and 

 when dried, it is employed in many ways as a mitigant of pain.f 

 The seeds or " nuts " of all the large coned species are edible, 

 and are consumed in great quantities by the inhabitants of the 

 provinces and districts where these trees abound. 



The Araucarias are natives of a comparatively restricted area in 

 South America, eastern Australia, and some of the adjacent islands. 



* Su madera, de un bianco, medio anarillento, cs llena de fibras y de vetas muy vistosas 

 y admite un buen pulimento. fiistoria de Chile, por Claudio Gay. — Tomo v., p. 416. 



t Idem. loo. cit. 



