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containing a very minute embryo, wliose precise form and direction I have not been able to trace, and the endocarp is
often loose n-ithin the sarcocarp, externally covered irith búllate opaque glands, which are sometimes seen \mder the
cuticle of the auther and in other parts of the plant. In the slu-ubby habit, ai’ticulated stems, and in tlie opposite
glabrous leaves, Ascarina differs vety conspicuously from Gunnera.
Datisceæ is another order with ivhich Gunnera coincides in many important points, as in the often tetramerous
structure of the flowers, theii* unisexual nature, the absence of a corolla, the form of the stamens, ivhich ai*e in Datisca
attached to the lacimæ of the calyx, whüe these laciniæ, in Gunnera, appear like aduate bracteas, in the absence
even of rudiments of an ovarium in the male flower, especially in there being two styles to each carpel, in the albuminous
seed and erect embiyo, ivhich is of a different shape and fonn from that of Gunneroe, though simüai* to that of
Halorageoe proper. On the other hand, Laiisca differs from this in many respects, most remarkably in the many
ovuled parietal placentæ, ia the form of the pollen, in the composition of the carpels and their dehiscence, aud in
the form of the seed aud testa, which approaches to that of some Saxifrageoe.
In its native state, Gunnera scahra must be a very noble plant, its foliage being amongst the largest of Dicotyledonous
vegetables. JIi*. Darwin * mentions haring measured single leaves eight feet in diameter, or no less than
twenty-foui* feet in cfrcumference. The stalks are more than a yai*d high and each bears fom* or five of these enormous
leaves. I have no specimens from this locality, but introduce the plant on the authority of J lr. Darnin’s Jom-nal,
where it is stated that “ the ‘ Pauke ’ inhabits sand-stone cliffs, and somewhat resembles Rhubarb on a gigantic
scale. The mhabitants cut the stalks, which are subacid, tan leather from the roots, and procure a black dye
from it.”
2. G u n n e r a (Jlisandra) Magellanica, Lamk. Diet. vol. iii. p. 61. t . 801. f. 2. G. Falklandica, Hooh.
Ic. Fia n t, t. 489. Jlisan d ra JIageUanica, Commerson in Jussieu Gen. 405. Gaud, in Ann. Sc. N a t. vol. v.
p. 89. Freyc. Toy. Bot. p. 502. DXh-ville in Mém. Soc. L in n . Faris, vol.iv. p . 621. Dysemone iutegri-
folia. Banks et Sol. M S S . in 3Ius. Banks cum icone. “ J la u v e /’ Fernetty Yoy. vol. ü. p . 58.
H ab. South Chili, Fuegia and th e Falkland Islands, very abundant; Commerson, Banks and Solander,
Capt. King, and all subsequent voyagers.
I find m Fuegia the same variety, or rather state of this plant, which is called Falklandica in tbe * leones Plantarum,’
and I have introduced that name as a synonyme.
The Misandree have been separated from the true Gunneroe by their dicecious flowers being destitute of a corolla,
to which might be added their humble mode of growth, and male flowers consisting of a solitaiy stamen bracteolated
at the base and collected into a dense panicle or arranged in a spike. The characters drawn from the inflorescence, are
not however decisive ; one New Zealand species, Gunyiera monoica, Raoul, is monoecious, and a second, G.prorepens,
mihi, has petals. Generally speaking, Misandra is the more southern representative of Gunnera proper. Thus,
whüst Java has G. macropTiylla, Blume, Tasmania possesses Milligania ; Otaheite G. petaloidea, Gaud., while
New Zealand (whose flora pai*takes of that of the Pacific Islands), has three species of Misandra ; and lastly, Pern,
Chih, and Juan Fernandez, have G. Chilensis and G. bracteaia, and Fuegia, M. Magellanica and M. lobata.
G. Magellanica is one of the most abundant of Antarctic American plants, from Valdivia to Cape Horn, and especially
in the Falkland Islands, where it is eaten by cattle. On the mountains near Cape Horn it ascends to 1,000
feet. Apparently the same species, without flower, has been collected by Professor Jameson on the Andes of Quito.
3 . Gunnera (Jlisandra) lobata, Hook.fil.; dioica, caule repente radicante, petiolis rufo-pilosis, foliis
rotundatis profunde 5 -7 lobis coriaceis nerris subtus püosis lobis rotundatis obtusis integerrimis marginibus
* Journ^, ed.i. p. 340.
L I
obscuie ciliatis, staminibus spicato-racemosis, antberis late oblongis. Dysemone lobata, B a n k s et Solander,
MS S . in 3Ius. Banks cum icone.
H ab. Fuegia ; Good Success Harbour, Banks and Solander; Hermite Island, Cape Horn, J . D. I I .
Caules simpliciusculi, elongati, 3-6 unc. longi, validi, crassitie pennæ corrinæ, glaberrimi, subangulati, fibi*as
plm-imas crassas valde elongatas emittentes, versus apicem reliquiis squamosis stipularum vetustaram obtecti. Petioli
I—1 unc. longi, pilis rufis subscariosis tecti, basi in stipxdam vaginantem düatati. lamina unc. lata, viridis,
subtus paUidior. Pedunculus exemplare masculo | unc. longus, racemum parvum staminum gerens. Antheræ
luteæ.
J ly specimens were gathered upon the mountains near Cape Horn, in early spring, and are imperfect. I
possess only a portion of a male spike of inflorescence, and borne upon a very stunted plant ; the bracteæ are probably
caducous, they subtend the filaments and in G. Magellanica may often be seen placed, one on either side of a contiguous
pair of stamens ; properly speaking, they are segments of a rudimentary calyx.
XVI. MYRTACEÆ, Br.
1. JIE T EOS ID ERO S, Br.
1. IVIetrosideeos stipularis, Hook, fil.; glaberrima, ramis ramulosis acute tetragonis foliosis, foliis
parvis breviter petiolatis distichis eUipticis ovatisve subacutis grosse peUucido-punctatis nervis subparallelis
basi glandulis inflatis quasi stipulatis, pedunculis foHo brerioribus 1-3-floris, calyce 5-dentato glaberrimo
dentibus erectis breviter ovatis obtusis, staminibus petalis te r longioribus, capsula obovato-turbinata coriacea
3-loculari, seminibus plmimis linearibus testa reticulata. J ly rtu s stipularis. Hook, et Arn. in Bo t. Misc.
vol. iii. p. 316. Eugenia leptospermoides, L C . Frodr. vol. iii. p. 266 ?
H ab . Chonos Arcliipelago ; C. Lai'win, Esq.
Rami gi*acUes, cortice cinereo tecti. Folia \ unc. louga, flavo-rirescentia, subtus pallidiora. Fedunculi ^ longit.
foUi. Capsulæ suberectæ, I- une. longæ, obscure pentagonæ, extus infra lobos calycis poris 5 ÜTegulariter rum-
pentes. Semina parva, linearia, fugacia.
This plant is the only recorded American species, not only of Metrosideros, but of the whole gi*onp or tribe of
Myrtaceoe, to ivhich that genus belongs, and ivhich is cMefly confined to Australia, where the leptosperma form a
conspicuous feature in the vegetation ; they ai*e also numerous in New Zealand, and are fomid in the Indian Islands,
eastward of the JIalay peninsida. The group, in question, contains upwards of 450 species, almost exclusively
limited to an area bounded by the equator on the north, New Zealand on the east, Tasmania on the south, and
Sumatra on the west ; to these points they, as it were, radiate from the principal parallel of New Holland, ivhich Jlr.
Broivn considers to contain theii* maximum. From Australia the tribe seems to extend eastward rather than westward,
more species inhabiting New Zealand, small though that country, comparatively S2ieaking, is, than the East Indian
Islands. They occur, though very sparingly, tbronghout the distant Isles of the Pacific Ocean, as far east as Pitcairn’s
Island. The tribe has a few solitary sjiecies in I'ery remote countries ; and these I would term outlying
species, for they are so typical of an Australian flora as to ajipear foreigners among the vegetation of other countries.
Such arc Boeckia frutescens of China, Metrosideros angustifolia of the Cape of Good Hope, and the Metrosideros
stipularis of Chili. Each of these is the lone rejn-esentative of a group, ivhich, as it were, holds a more distinguished
place amongst its feUoiv plants in another part of the world, and to the eye of the botanist is a stranger
and wanderer in tlie laud it inhabits. Other natural orders, cliai'acteristic of Australia, afford parallel cases to
this, viz. Epacrideoe, Goodeniaceoe and Stylideoe.
It is chiefly in the extreme south and upon the west coast of America that the representatives of Australian