1 9sa 



AUBORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. 



PART III 



b. Species not yet introduced. 



Mirb. The ohX\(\uc-l caved 



1 X. F. ohli v qua 



HttttjfUmtiom, Mt-m. Mus., 14. p. 4tx>. 



Mem. Mus., 14. t. i'3. ; and 

 our .rig. ,1919. 



I ..." . $c. Loaves ovate-oblong 



oblique, somewhat rhomboid ; blunt, 

 doubly serrated, entire at the base; at- 

 tenuated into the petiole, somewhat 

 downy. Perianth of the male flowers 

 solitary, hemispherical, rinuated. Anthers 

 30 — 40. Cupuies capsulifonn, muricate, 

 4-partitc; segments ovate, obtuse. Ova- 

 ries included, 3-sided ; angles winged. 

 [Mirhel.) A tall tree, a native of Chili, 

 and found by Dombey near Concepcion ; 

 flowering in September. In Chili, it is 

 known by the name; of Koble. Leaves 

 alternate, from 1 in. to 2 in. long, and 

 from 4 lines to 8 lines broad. Stipules 

 deciduous, membranaceous, lanceolate, 

 linear j about the length of the petioles. 

 [Mirb. Mem. Mus., xiv. p. 466.) 



13. Cupule involucrijbrm ; Segments narrow, laciniate. Ovaries lateral/?/ inserted. 

 Young leaves not plicate. 



a. Species introduced into Britain. 

 2. 4. F. ^etuloi v des Mirb. The Birch-like, or evergreen, Beech. 



Identification. Mirb. in Mem. Mus., 14. p. 470. ; Hook, in Bot. Mag. 



Synonymc. i?etula antarctica Forst. in Comm. Goett., 9. p. 45., Willd. Sp. Pi., 4. p. 466. 



Engravings. Mem. Mus., 14. t. 25. ; and our fig. 1920. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves ovate-elliptic, obtuse, crenulate, leathery, shining, glabrous; round at the 



base, on short footstalks. Perianth of the male flowers solitary, turbinate, 5 — 7-lobed. Anthers 



10 — 16. Cupuies involucriform, smooth, 4-partite ; segments nearly linear, laciniate. Ovaries 



3-sided, laterally exserted ; angles marginatc. (Mirbel.) An ever- 

 green tree, a native of Terra del Fuego, where it forms vast forests. 



Branches divaricate, tortuous, brownish ; young ones pubescent. 



Leaves ciliate, alternate, from 4 to 10 lines long, and from 3 to 



8 lines broad. Flowers axillary. The structure and disposition 



of the male flowers, as well as many other characters of vegetation, 



resemble those of F. antarctica Forst. ; but, according to this 



botanist, the leaves of F. antarctica' are plaited in the bud; and 



the disk is less prolonged on one side of the petiole than on the 



other, which characters do not exist in F. Actuloldcs. (Mim. Mus., 



xiv. p. 470.) The evergreen beech grows at Port Famine, Straits 



of Magellan, and in its neighbourhood, in the greatest abundance. 



It attains a very large size ; trees of 3 ft. in diameter being common, 



and there being many with trunks 4 ft. in diameter. There is one 



tree (perhaps the very same as that mentioned by Commodore 



Byron), the trunk of which averages 7 ft. in diameter to the height 



of 17 ft., and then divides into three large limbs, each of which is 



3 ft. in diameter. (See Journ. of Geo. Soc, and Bot. Mag. for June, 



1836.) This beech is also a native of Van Dieman's Land, where 



a i <alled the myrtle tree by the colonists. It generally grows 



in the western part of the island, where an esculent fungus is 



found in clusters around the swollen parts of its branches. This 



fungus varies in size from that of a marble to that of a walnut: 



when young, ii is whitish, and covered with a skin like that of a 



young potato. This skin is easily taken off; and the remaining 



portion, when raw, tastes like cold cow-heel. When this fungus 



it matured, the skin splits, and exhibits a sort of network of a 



yellowish white colour. (See Backhouse in Gard. Mag., vol. xi. 



p. MO. ; and Cotftp. to Bot. Mag., vol. ii. p. 340.) F. /vefuloides '9^0 



it said to have been introduced in 1830; but we have not seen the plant. 



¥ .0. F. anta'rctica Font. The antarctic Beech. 



1,1,-ntifi/ation. Forut. in Comment. Coctt., 9. p. 24. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 460. 



I M orate, blunt, glabrous; attenuated at the base; doubly dentate; their margins 

 Wfttd.) A native of Terra del Fuego, and introduced in IHiO. Branches rugged, tortuous. 

 I>avc* alternate, petiolate, If in. long; plicate; veins on the under side somewhat downy ; the 

 teeth roundkb, blunt. [Willd. Sp. PI., iv. p, 4(»0.) We have never seen the plant. 



b. Species not yet introduced into British Gardens. 

 7 <,. /•'. DOMBB v/ Mirb. Dornbey's, or the Myrtle-leaved, Becrh. 



1,1, ,,l,f,rai„m. Men. Mux., 14. B. 486. ', Comp J'.ot Mag., 1. p. 301. 



/.r.yraoin^t Mia M u , J i I ii , and OUtJlg. 192L 



