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rieties of this tree, distinguished by their yellow or 

 white flowers, which are divided into eighteen narrow 

 petals of two or three inches in length. Tht seeds 

 resemble coffee, and are not unlike it in taste, but 

 have a certain bitterness that renders them unplea- 

 sant. The bark is yellow, the wood grey, very hard, 

 and much used in various manufactures. 



The patagua (cinodendron patagua, gen. nov.) 

 is much valued for its flowers, which are small, but 

 resemble in shape and smell the lily. The leaves are 

 placed opposite in pairs, lanceolated, serrated, and 

 of a bright green. The trunk frequently grows to 

 such a size that four men can scarcely encircle it 

 with their arms; the wood is white and easily 

 wrought, but held in little estimation. 



Chili, in comparison with those countries in Ame- 

 rica situated between the tropics, produces but few 

 trees whose fruits are edible ; the principal of those 

 are the coconut^ the pehuen^ the gevuin, the peumo 

 and the lúcuma. 



In the provinces of Quillota, Calchagua and Maule 

 are large forests of the coconut tree (palma Chilensis) 

 This species differs from the others of the same ge- 

 nus in the size of its fruit, which dqes not usually 

 exceed that of a walnut. The trunk is about the 

 height and diameter of a date tree, and its growth is 

 very slow; it is without branches and perfectly cy- 

 lindrical, but when young is covered with the 

 footstalks of leaves, which fall off as the tree increased 

 in size. The leaves and flov/ers are analogous to 

 those of the palm ; the last are monoical, and dis- 

 posed in four clusters which hang around the tree. 



