ON THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ILEX, ETC. 75 



When iu Paris a few years ago, I endeavoured to ascertain whether 

 any of these specimens agreed with St.-Hilaire's typical plant ; but the 

 latter, unfortunately, had been mislaid or lost in the removal of the col- 

 lections exhibited in the great " Exposition " of 1855. St.-Hilaire states 

 that he had compared his plant from Curitiba with specimens from 

 Paraguay, and found them specifically identical ; this conclusion does 

 not correspond with the specimens before me. 



I have since obtained from Curitiba a specimen of the plant there 

 used in the preparation of the Herva de Parangua\ On comparing it with 

 the true Ilex Paraguayensis sent by Bonpland, I find the two sufficiently 

 distinct : this fact is of interest, as it accounts at once for the difference 

 in the quality of the tea respectively prepared from these two plants. 



Hitherto, I have spoken only of the Yerba produced from these two 

 species. Bonpland, however, states positively that the other species, of 

 which he sent specimens, are also employed in the preparation of the 

 Yerba of commerce. This fact has lately been confirmed by the assur- 

 ance I have received from a Brazilian gentleman from Porto Alegre, 

 who trades extensively in this commodity : his information is very in- 

 teresting, both as regards the difference in the quality of these products, 

 and the districts in which the trees are found ; and from his knowledge 

 of this matter and his long experience, his account may be fully de- 

 pended on. The other species grow principally in the districts that 

 stretch far to the eastward and southward of the long mountain range 

 which extends from the " Serra Geral " of Curitiba, in lat. 26° S., to lat. 

 32? S., where it is shown in the maps as the " Serra do Herval," so called 

 from the abundance of its Mate trees. The summits of this wide-spread 

 mountain range are very broad, forming numerous table-lands which 

 afford excellent pasturage for cattle. The Mate trees are never found on 

 these table-lands, nor in the broad plains that skirt the river beds ; they 

 grow invariably on the inclined hill-sides in the numerous gorges inter- 

 secting the country, which in most cases are densely wooded ; and it is 

 in these woods that the different species of Ilex abound. In some places 

 the Mate trees attain a considerable size, often exceeding 100 feet in 

 height. These larger trees grow especially on the declivities of the 

 western side of the same mountain-range, where all the streams flow 

 into the river Uruguay. The Yerba here produced is of an excellent 

 quality, that called by the Brazilians " Herva de Palmeira " is renowned 

 as being equal to the best Paraguay tea. 



It is in this region that seven of the far-famed Missions established 

 by the Jesuits are situated, where the Mate is extensively collected. 

 Upon the eastern declivities, along the tributaries of the rivers Pardo 

 and Jacuhy, are the ' Hervales ' of Faxinal, Santa Cruz, and Guayaraga, 

 to which Bonpland's specimens refer. Here also is that of Butacarahy, 

 equally renowned, where the Ilex gigantea of Bonpland abounds, and 

 where it attains a height of 70 feet : the other four kinds, with smaller 

 and more lanceolate, punctate leaves, rarely here exceed the height of 



