163 



6. Araucaria excelsa, R. Br. — The Norfolk Island Pine is a lofty tree of 



symmetrical growth, with the branches arranged in regular horizontal 

 tiers. Some of the trees in Norfolk Island on the coast of Australia 

 are 220 feet high. The timber is used for building and other pur- 

 poses. ( Coniferce ). 



7. Araucaria imbricata, Pa v. . — The Chili Pine or Monkey Puzzle, is a na- 



tive of rocky eminences on the Andes. It forms vast forests in southern 

 Chili from snow-line to 2,000 feet below it. The tree attains a 

 height of 150 feet. The timber is yellowish- white, and beautifully 

 veined ; it is easily worked, takes a polish and is xevy durable. It 

 is a tree of great importance to the Araucanian Indians, as the seeds 

 are edible, and it is said that the produce of 18 trees will yield 

 sufficient food to sustain a man for a whole year. Besides eating 

 the seeds either fresh boiled or roasted, the natives dry them for 

 winter store, prepare a kind of flour from them, and also distil 

 them into spirit. 



Nearly a hundred years ago, the great navigator, Vancouver, was 

 returning home from a survey of the north-west coast of America, 

 and putting in at Valparaiso, was entertained by the Viceroy of 

 Chili. At dinner, Menzies, the botanist of the expedition, noticed 

 some nuts which were unknown to him, and instead of eating any 

 he carried some with him and raised five seedlings on board in a 

 box of soil. Thus the Monkey Puzzle tree was, for the first time 

 successfully introduced into England at the termination of their 

 voyage in the autumn of 1795. The tree is now fairly common 

 in England, and sometimes ripens its seeds. ( Coniferce ) 



8. Areca Catechu, Linn. — The Areca or Betel-nut Palm has a lofty, 



straight and very slender stem, — the Hindoo poets speak of it as 

 p "an arrow shot from Heaven." 



Low, in his ' History of Borneo,' says : — " The flowers are deli- 

 ciously fragrant ; they are in request for all festive occasions, and 

 are also considered a necessary ingredient in the medicines and 

 charms employed for healing the sick ; their delightful perfume 

 together with the graceful feathery foliage, borne on a slender and 

 elegantly tapered stem, renders this tree the universal favourite 

 among the Palm tribe." 



The fruit is about the size of a small henVegg, of an orange 

 colour, and hangs in long bunches below the dark green leaves. 

 The outer part of the fruit is hard and fibrous, then comes the 

 shell, enclosing the kernel of Betel-nut. 



It is for this nut, that the palm is so extensively cultivated in 

 the Malay Archipelago, and the practice of chewing it is universal 

 amongst the natives. The nut is cut into narrow strips, and 

 rolled up with a little lime in the leaves of the Betel Pepper. 

 The pellet, though acrid to the taste is aromatic and astringent, 

 and the mastication is considered wholesome. The natives would 

 rather forego meat and drink than their favourite Areca Nut. 

 The commerce in the nut is enormous. (Palmce.) 



9. Arexga sa< charifera, Labill. — The Sugar Palm is most abundant 



in shady forests on the banks of streams in Burma and the Mala}' 



