The Genus Araucaria. 425 



hardness and solidity, and might prove valuable for many 

 uses if the places of the growth of the tree were less inacces- 

 sible. For ship-building it would be useful, but is much too 

 heavy for masts. If a branch be scratched, or the scales of an 

 unripe fruit be broken, a thick milky juice immediately exudes, 

 that soon changes to a yellowish resin, of which the smell is 

 agreeable, and which is considered by the Chilians as possess- 

 ing such medicinal virtues that it cures the most violent rheu- 

 matic headaches when applied to the spot where the pain is 

 felt." 



"The Araucaria forest of Antuco is the most northerly 

 that is known in Chili, so that the boundary of this king of 

 of all the extra-tropical American trees may be estimated at 

 36° south lat. The extreme southern limit is not so clearly 

 ascertained, which is not surpi*ising when we consider how 

 little comparatively is known of Western Patagonia ; it seems 

 probable, however, that it does not stretch far beyond lat. 46°. 

 Between Antuco and Valdivia this tree only grows among the 

 Andes, and, as the Indians assert, solely on their western de- 

 clivities, and nowhere lower than from 1500 to 2000 feet 

 below the snow line, up to which they frequently reach. Fur- 

 ther to the south the Araucaria appears at a lower elevation, 

 and in the country of the Cuncos, and about Osorno, is said to 

 occur on mountains of a very moderate altitude near the sea. 

 The Corcovado, a mountain that rises opposite Chiloe, is said 

 to be studded from its foot to the snow line with large groups 

 of these beautiful trees. Of all other vegetation the Araucaria 

 forests are as bare as the pine woods, oifering but few plants 

 which can interest the botanist. Steep rocky ridges, where 

 there is no water, are its favourite habitat." 



The Chilians eat the seeds either raw, roasted, or boiled, 

 and consider them very nutritious ; they also procure a spirit 

 from them by distillation. The timber is easily worked, and 

 takes a high polish. Pavon mentions a peculiar fact connected 

 with the height of these trees. He asserts that the female is 

 by far the largest, frequently 150 feet, while the male seldom 

 exceeds 40 or 50 feet. The inner bark of the trunk is peculiar 

 from its light porous nature ; it is very thick. The outer bark 

 is also of a great thickness, and of a similar corky consistence. 



The Bunya-Bunya, Araucaria BidwUli, Hook., is a noble 

 tree, inhabiting the scrubs between the Brisbane and Burnett 

 Rivers, between the 26 and 28 parallels of latitude, and longitude 

 152° to 153 o, 30 east. On the east coast of Australia the trees 

 grow in dense forests over a tract of country ranging about 

 thirty miles long by twelve broad, where they form one of the 

 principal features in the surrounding vegetation, being strikingly 

 contrasted by their rigid growth and bright green colour. The 



