CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
101 
where the Ilex gigantea of Bonpland abounds, and where it at- 
tains a height of 70 feet : the other four kinds, with smaller and 
more lanceolate, punctate leaves, rarely here exceed the height of 
30 or 40 feet. The latter are more irregularly branched, with a 
more straggling growth, and they pi’oduce the sort called by the 
Brazilians Herva brava (wild Mate), w'hile the larger-leaved 
species, such as the Ilex gigantea, yield a kind of tea called 
Herva mansa (mild Mate) ; such trees have straighter trunks, 
with more regular and rounded heads. The former sorts have 
a more bitter and stronger flavour, and want the peculiar and 
more agreeable aroma of the Pai’aguay type. When, however, 
the Herva brava is mixed with the Herva mansa in the propor- 
tion of 1 in 3 or 1 in 4, it produces a kind of Mate which is 
hardly distinguishable from the genuine Paraguay Yerba; and 
it thus forms a considerable object of commerce. 
Still further to the southward of the Serra do Herval, in the 
mountain districts of the Taypes or Canguassu, some species of 
Ilex abound which are said to produce a tea as valuable as the 
best sorts of Herva de Palmeira, or even vying with the Para- 
guay tea, being equal to them in fragrance, flavour, and strength. 
This fact is worthy of notice when we take into consideration 
the great difi'erence in the latitude of these districts. The qua- 
lity of the tea of all these various kinds depends greatly on the 
time of year in which the leaves are gathered, the best season 
for the harvest being well known to the natives. 
Dr. Reisseck has lately published, in Martins’s ‘ Flora Brasi- 
liensis,’ a Monograph of the Brazilian species of Ilex. He evi- 
dently had not seen any specimen of the true Ilex Paraguayensis] 
for his diagnosis under that name refers to some of the smaller, 
more lanceolate, and punctate-leaved species of the genus, and 
certainly not to the celebrated true Paraguayan plant. 
. I now present the characters of the several Mate plants that 
have been here referred to ; — 
1. Ilex Paraguayensis, St.-Hil. in Spr. Syst. iv. cur. post. p. 48 ; 
Hook, (in parte) Lond. Journ. Bot. i. 35. tab. 1; — Hex Para- 
guariensis, St.-Hil. {in parte) Mem. Mus. ix. 351 ; DC. Prodr. 
ii. 15; — Hex Paraguensis, D. Don in Lamb. Pin. App. p. 7. 
tab. 4; — Hex theaezans, Bonpl. MSS. [non Mart.) ; — ramulis 
angulato-striatis ; foliis oblongis vel obovato-oblongis, coria- 
ceis, glaberrimis, integris aut obsolete aut profundius grosse- 
dentatis, margine revoluto, utrinque concoloribus, nervis su- 
perne vix distinctis, subtus prominulis, reticulato-venosis, 
epunctatis ; petiolo canaliculate ; inflorescentia in axillis plu- 
riflora; pedunculis 4-6, subfasciculatis, e nodo bracteato 
ortis, petiolo sublongioribus, interdum 1-floris, vel medium 
