SOUTH AMEEICA IN ITS EELATION TO HORTICULTURE. 53 



of the Northern hemisphere do not extend farther south than 

 Mexico. 



Of deciduous trees the antarctic beeches will probably prove of 

 interest in cultivation. They belong to the section NotJiofagus of the 

 genus Fagus, and include F. ohliqua from Chile (fig. 25) and F. 

 antarctica and F. heiuloides from the Magellanic region and Tierra del 

 Fuego. 



F. obliquaAs now making a handsome plant at Kew and proving 

 well worthy of cultivation. F. antarctica is also a nice httle tree, 

 and a specimen of the variety uliginosa flowered at Kew two years 

 ago, and was figured in the Botanical Magazine (t. 8314) last year. It 

 is of some interest to notice in passing that of the twelve species of this 

 southern hemisphere section of the genus Fagus, seven species belong 

 to South America and three to the Australian region. 



Perhaps in the domain of hardy shrubs we have laid South America 

 under greater contribution than any other part of the world except 

 China and Japan. Berheris Darwinii, one of the parents of that most 

 useful and ornamental shrub B. x stenophylla , was first discovered by 

 Charles Darwin in Chile, and was introduced to cultivation by Messrs. 

 Veitch in 1849 through their collector Lobb. B. x stenophylla arose as 

 an accidental cross between B. Darwinii and B. empetrifolia, a native 

 of the Magellan region, in the nursery of Messrs. FisEer, Son, and 

 Holmes, Handsworth, Sheffield. The beautiful Berheridopsis with its 

 crimson flowers, which is a striking feature in some Comish gardens, 

 forms a link between the natural orders Berheridaceae and Lardiza- 

 halaceae. The latter order is of interest since its genera only occur in 

 Chile and Eastern Asia, Lardizahala being a native of Chile, while its 

 relative, Akehia, an interesting plant for sheltered walls, comes from 

 China. 



Another evergreen shmb or small tree is Azara microphylla, with 

 its small, deliciously scented flowers, which is found near Valdivia in 

 Chile and was sent home by E. Pearce when collecting for Messrs. 

 Yeitch and Son of Exeter. 



Embotlirium coccineum, the flame bush, which flourishes in Corn- 

 wall and sheltered spots in South Devon, first flowered at Exeter in 

 1853 and is a native of the Magellan region. 



Drimys Winteri, the ' Winter's bark,' often found in West country 

 gardens, as another of our beautiful evergreen shrubs from Chile, and 

 its introduction is due to the collector Lobb. This shrub possesses 

 an interest to botanists, in addition to its pretty cream-coloured 

 flowers, in the fact that it is a member of a typically antarctic genus 

 represented also in New Zealand, and. one species has been found as 

 far north as Borneo on the summit of the great mountain Kinabalu 

 with a few other antarctic plants. 



The Escallonias again, some of w^iich make such excellent and 

 beautiful hedges in the West country and at seaside places, are a purely 

 South American group, and some of them which are quite hardy 

 deserve more attention than they have received. Escallonia Philip- 



