270 A MANUAL OF THE CONIFERS. 



rare and remarkable dioecious Conifer, also including but a single 

 species found in Tasmania. By Bentham and Hooker the Diselma is 

 now referred to Fitzroya as a second species. 



The genus is named in compliment to Captain FitzEoy, by whom 

 it was first discovered, when in command of H.M. surveying ship 

 " Beagle." * 



SciESTino Name. 



FITZROYA PATAGdNICA 



(Sir J. D. Booker) 



Popular Name. Habitat. 



The Patagonian Cypress "Western Patagonia 



Height, 

 in Feet. 



Variable 



Fitzroya patagonica. — A fine tree, of from 50 to 80 feet high, 

 on the rocky precipices of the Andes below the snow line ; at 

 the snow line it dwindles to a mere bush. At its southern limits 

 in the neighbourhood of the Straits of Magellan, it also dwindles 

 to a scrubby bush of small dimensions. In England, like the 

 Libocedrus tetragona, with which it is frequently associated in its 

 native country, it has failed thus far to adapt itself to the climate] 

 it makes no permanent leader, or rather it forms a multiplicity 

 of leaders, none of which grow more than an inch or two in 

 the course of a single season; the branches are irregular, and the 

 habit unsymmetrical. 



Introduced by us in 1849, through William Lobb. 



Nothing is known of the economic value of the timber of the 

 Fitzroya ; it has probably not yet been much employed for constructive 

 purposes, owing to the inacessibility of the places where it attains its 

 finest developement.f As an ornamental tree in this country, its 

 character is sufficiently stated in the above description. It is worthy 

 of notice that the young plants of Fitzroya growing in Great Britain 

 bear female cones in great abundance, but which produce no seed ; 

 no pollen bearing plants have yet been observed. ' They have also 

 spreading leaves, while the adult trees in their native country have 

 the leaves closely imbricated and appressed like those of a Thuia. 



* The voyage of the " Beagle " will he ever memorable in the annals of science. The 

 vessel was despatched by the British Government in 1831, to survey accurately the southern- 

 most points of South America. Mr. Charles Darwin was invited to accompany the expedition 

 as Naturalist, an invitation which he accepted. The " Beagle " returned to England in 1836. 



t A section of a plank of Fitzroya, brought home by "William Lobb, and preserved in the 

 Museum of the Royal Exotic Nursery, shows that the wood is of a reddish colour, straight, 

 and fine in grain, and susceptible of a high polish. The section contains 260 cubic inches, 

 and weighs 85 ounces, or about 3 c. in. to the oz. A similar section of a plank of the 

 Alerze (Libocedrus tetragona) of precisely the same size, is found to be of the same weight. 



