CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
129 
a number of one-flowered pedicels, aggregated in form of an 
umbel, with a row of involucrated bracts at their base. With 
the exception of one, peculiar to New Zealand, and another 
growing in the island of Juan Fernandez, the plants of this 
genus are restricted to the continent of South America, one only 
extending into the northern hemisphere. D. Granatensis ap- 
pears in the mountainous districts of the western tropical portion 
of the continent ; a few distinct forms inhabit Brazil, while others 
are extratropical, D. Winteri confining itself to the Patagonian 
extremity of Chile. Sir W. Hooker, many years ago*, seemed 
disposed to merge D. Chilensis into the Magellanic species, on 
account of the similarity of their leaves; and more recently. 
Dr. Hooker t, after examining the many species of Drimys col- 
lected in various parts of the whole American continent, gave 
his opinion that all of them, including the one from Mexico and 
that from the island of Juan Fernandez, are mere varieties of 
D. Wivteri. To this opinion I cannot subscribe, for reasons I 
will here offer ; nor can I agree with St. Hilaire, that the different 
Brazilian forms which he describes J are only varieties of D. Gra- 
natensis. There is certainly a great uniformity of general ap- 
pearance among the individuals throughout the genus, for, in 
all, the leaves are quite smooth, thick, entire, oblong, polished, 
veinless, with an inferior glaucous or whitish surface ; but there 
is a certain character among them, by which, without mistake, 
we may assign to each the country of its origin. There are, 
however, in each of these several groups so many modifications 
of form, as well in the leaves as in the inflorescence, that it is 
almost impossible to offer good specific characters for them. I 
think it better, therefore, to take the middle course, and regard 
such individuals as so many varieties, and to consider each group 
as a distinct species, for which a clear diagnosis may be esta- 
blished. Under this point of view, the species will consist of the 
New Zealand form, D. axillaris, the Magellanic tree, D. Winteri, 
the Chilian D. Ghilensis, and that from the region of the Ecuador, 
D. Granatensis, in which I would include the Mexican variety; 
I would establish D. Brasiliensis for the different Brazilian forms 
enumerated by St. Hilaire, with the exception of D. montana-, 
to these may be added two other distinct species, here proposed, 
from Southern Brazil ; completing the list by D. Fernandeziana, 
from the island of Juan Fernandez. 
The younger Linnaeus, who received specimens of D. Grana- 
tensis from Mutis, concluded it to be a variety of the Magellanic 
species § ; but Lamarck first pointed out || the forcible distinc- 
t Flor. Antarct. ii. 229. 
§ Linn. fil. Suppl. 269. 
* Bot. Misc. iii. 134. 
J PI. Usuelles, tab. 26, 27, 28. 
II Diet. Encyc. Meth. ii. 330. 
VOL. I. 
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