468 
THE FOREST TREES OF BRITAIN. 
clever manner in which the reverend author 
has compressed so much information in so 
small a space. 
Our further extracts, however, with the 
illustrations, will sufficiently recommend the 
work, without any further panegyric from us. 
" THE CHILI PINE. 
" Akaucaria imbricata. 
" When the numerous trees, which have 
been introduced into Great Britain during 
the last fifty or sixty years, have attained to 
perfection and in a measure altered the fea- 
tures of artificial landscape scenery, no tree 
will contribute so much to produce this effect 
as the araucaria, or Chili pine. Seen from a 
distance, it has just enough of the character 
of the fir tribe to point out its relationship, 
but is unlike them all ; and when inspected 
more closely, it bears not the least resem- 
blance to any tree known in Britain, and 
even, to any eye but that of a botanist, it no 
longer has any affinity with the firs. 
" In its native haunts, the Cordillera chain 
in Chili, it is a lofty tree, exceeding a hun- 
dred feet in height, with a straight trunk, 
covered with a thick cork-like bark, which 
abounds with resin. The branches are long- 
est and most numerous near the base ; thus 
the tree has a pyramidal form. The leaves 
are broad, rigid, tough, and sharp-pointed, 
remaining attached to the tree for many years. 
Tlie branches are cylindrical and thickly 
covered by the clasping leaves, resembling, as 
Loudon happily remarks, ' in young trees, 
snakes partly coiled round the trunk, and 
stretching forth their long slender bodies in 
quest of prey.' The araucaria, as we are 
acquainted with it in England, is rather a 
singular than a beautiful tree, giving a foreign 
air to every place where it is planted, but not 
possessing elegance of form. On the steep 
rocky ridges of the South American moun- 
tains, it would seem to be no less majestic 
than singular. ' When we arrived at the first 
araucarias, the sun had just set ; still some 
time remained for their examination. What 
first struck our attention, were the thick 
roots of these trees, which lie spread over the 
stony and nearly naked soil like gigantic ser- 
pents, two or three feet in thickness ; they 
are clothed with a rOtigh bark, similar to that 
which invests the lofty pillar-like trunks, of 
from fifty to a hundred feet in height. The 
crown of foliage occupies only about the 
upper quarter of the stem, and resembles a 
large depressed cone. The lower branches, 
