THE CHILI PINE. 
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young plants. One of these became a fine tree at Kew, where it 
was for many years the object of admiration and interest, but it 
perished in 1892. 
The Araucaria forms extensive pine forests in the province of 
Arauco, from which it gets its name, and to whose inhabitants 
the seeds are a most important item of their food-supply. Not 
only do the trees in these forests lose their lower branches, but 
even those growing in the open plains of their native country 
have similarly bare trunks for nearly half their height. It is 
therefore a satisfaction to know that the finest specimens grown 
in this country have really surpassed those grown in their natural 
home. The height reached by old trees is from eighty to a 
hundred feet, with a trunk-girth of from sixteen to twenty-three 
feet. The tapering of this trunk is very slight, and a few of the stiff, 
spine-tipped leaves, with which its younger extremity is densely 
clothed, still remain attached in a dried-up condition far down 
the column. These leaves will have been observed to entirely 
cover the branches, not being restricted, as in most trees, to the 
newly formed branchlets and twigs. They are very hard, and 
endure for about fifteen years ; are about an inch and a quarter 
long, and overlap, though their sharp-pointed ends turn away 
from the branch. 
The cylindrical male flowers are four or five inches long, borne 
singly or in small clusters. It was formerly supposed that the sexes 
were on separate trees, but though many individuals only produce 
flowers of one kind, this is by no means the general rule. The 
female flowers are about four inches long, almost round in 
shape, but broader at the base than above. They are covered 
with long, narrow, overlapping scales, beneath which are found 
the seeds when the flower has developed into the brown cone, 
which is six inches in diameter. The scales are then easily 
detached ; in fact, when the seeds are ripe, the cone falls to 
pieces. The seed is about an inch and a half long, enclosed 
in a hard, thin shell. 
