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Orders, and tiose characteristic of the eastern portions of the old world, are found ; thus, the plant in question is confined
to the west shores of Cldli ; Prwnotea Amenmna, the only South American Epacrideous plant, to Fuegia and
w'estern CME ; Gooiem radicam to the Pacific coasts of Chili ; Forstera uliginosa, the only American Stglidia, to
the mountains of Fuegia; Astelia pumila, to the same localities; Veronica eUiptica {decussata, anct.), a New Zealand
species, also to Fuegia. To these might be added many other instances, which, though indiridnally not so
conclusiTe, shew by their number that proximity m geograpliical position is accompanied hy a certain resemblance in
some of the vegetable productions, even in countries whose flowers are in e¥ery other respect unlike ; a similarity,
seldom amoimting to specific identity in the tropical and wanner latitudes, but frequently so in proportion as we
approach the poles. For an instance, I would cite the Floras of Chib, between 40° and 45°, containing many of the
features of New Zealand and Australian Botany, though tew or no species are common to both ; whilst Fuegia and
the countries between 50° and 66°, contain far more representatives of soutli New Zealand and Tasmaiiiaii plants,
and a very considerable proportion of species found in those countries.
A native also of Yaldivia and Chiloe and a very pecnbar plant, especially in the presence of large glands on
either side the base of the petiole of every' leaf, ivhich are formed of an inflation of the cuticle of the bark.
2. MYETUS, L .
1. M y e td s Vgni, Molin., CUl. ed. Gall. p. 1 3 3 . Feuill. OU. vol. iii. p. 4 4 . t. 3 1 . Lamk. Encyel.
vol. iv. p. 4 1 2 . EC. Frodr. vol. üi. p. 2 3 9 . Eiigeiba Ugni, Hook, et Arn. in Bot. Misc. vol. iü. p. 3 1 8 .
" U gni ” ineolarum, et " Murtilla ” Hispanorum.
H ab . Chonos Archipelago ; C. Barwin, Esq.
The leaves of tbis species vaiy considerably, both in size and shape, the largest being at least an inch long,
perfectly elbptical and attenuated at both extremities, whbe in other specimens they are much smaller, broadly ovate
or even rotundate. Feuülé’s description of the seeds incbnes me to refer this plant to the genus Myrtus ; he says it
is abundant in Cbüi, where the natives express the juice of the fruit, which, when mixed with water, affords a
grateful didnk. The berries smeU agreeably. FenUlé’s figure may possibly refer to some otber plant and not the
one he describes. The Uyrtus Ugni appears to abound, from the latitude of Concepcion, south to the Chonos
Archipelago.
2. Mybtüs Nummularia, Poiret, Enegcl. vol. iv. p. 4 0 7 . Gaudichaud in Ann. Sc. N a t. vol. v. p. 1 0 6 .
t. 2. f. 5. et in Frege. Voy. Bot. p. 1 3 8 . I f Urville in Mém. Soc. L in n . Faris, vol. iv. p. 6 1 9 . DC. Prodr.
vol. üi. p. 2 3 8 . “ Lucet musqué,” Pernetty Vog. vol. ii. p. 58.
T a r. f t major ; caule robusliore, fobis majoribus, pediceUis paulo longioribus, lobis calycinis petalisque
angustioribus.
H ab. South Clbli, Puegia and tb e Palldand Islan d s; Commerson and aU subsequent voyagers.
Var. f t Cbüoe, Capt. King. Cbonos Arcliipelago, C. Barwin, Esq.
One of the most common denizens of the countries it inhabits, spreading over the ground amongst the roots
and stems of other plants, Uke the Vaccinmm Ozycoccos or craneben-y of Britain. The bemes have a sweet
and agreeable flavour, they are red and very fleshy. The leaves afforded a substitute for tea to the sealers who
visited, and the first settlers in, the Falkland Islands ; this beverage was so rebshed, that in spite of its diuretic
properties, the Gauchoes in these Islands prefer it to Chinese tea. Capt. King coUected the species at Concepcion
in Chib, its northern Umit. The M. oxyeoeeoides, Benth., of Colombia, is a very nearly abied plant, hut its leaves
are generally smaUer and always truly ovate ; here invariably oblong. I t is possible tbat the var. 3 may prove
distinct, though I am not incbned to consider it so. This creeping South American Myrtus, together with
with some allied species from Peru, are perhaps the most msigiiificant plants of the whole natural order, and especially
of the genns of Myrtles; though the M. Nummularia, by coiitribiiting largely to the formation of peat, perforin's a highly
important function in the economy of nature. The leaves arc often preserved quite entire some feet below the
surface of the soil, and I was able to recognize earth, sent to the Eoyal Gardens at Ediiibni-gli from New Zealand,
as having come originaUy from the Falkland Islands or South America, because of the abundance of leaves of this plant
contained in it.
3. EU G EN IA , 3iich.
1. E ugenia apiculata, DC. Prodr. vol. iii. p. 276. Hook, et Arn. in Bot. 3Iisc. v. iii. p. 321.
Var. Arnyan, foliis glaberrimis pollicaribus late ovalibus, pedicellis ommbus unifloris.
H a b. Yar. j3, Chonos Ai'chipelago ; C. Ba n o in , Esq.
A very variable plant ; apparently uot uncommon in Chili, between the Andes and the sea-coast, and from
Concepcion to the Chonos Archipelago. The pedicels are exceethngly various in length, when they are much elongated
the plant becomes E. affinis, Gill., and I am inclined to consider the E. Gilliesii, H. and A., as another variety.
The original species has leaves slightly hairy beneath, with a rufous pubescence. None of the munerous specimens
that I have seen are in fiaiit, and the genus therefore is doubtful.
2. E u genia Barwinii, Hook, fil.; ramis teretibus, cortice rimoso cinereo, junioribus pubescentibus,
foliis petiolatis glaberrimis coriaceis elliptico-oblongis abrupte acuminatis subenerriis obscure punctatis
margine incrassato, pedunculis terminalibus lateralibusque puberulis folio æquilongis erectis paucis unifloris
aliisque racemosis pedicellis oppositis, floribus parris, calyce depresso quinquefido segmentis obtusis, stami-
nibus plurimis petalis cucuHatis bis longioribus.
H a b . South Cluli, Cape Tres Jlo n te s ; C. B arwin, Esq.
Frutex ? Folia coriacea, f unc. longa, A lata, nervis laterabbus divaricatis. Pedunculi infra calycem articulati,
minutissime bracteolati, pedicellis basi bracteolatis. Calyx 2 lin. latns, segmentis patentibus. Fetala alba. Stylus
elongatus, validus. Ovarium immaturum triloculare ?, loculis bi-ovidatis.
Without the ripe fruit I am unable to refer this plant satisfactorily to its genns ; it accords sufficiently with
many Chilian species of Myrtaceoe wliich have been hitherto placed in Eugoiia.
A very great number of slu-nbby Myrteoe inhabit the Chilian coast, between Chiloe and Concepcion ; a singulai-
circumstance when it is considered how suddenly they cease to the southward of Cape Tres Montes. Probably no
less than fom-tccn siiecics occm- witliin these limits, wliilst uot one is to be found in the Strait of Magalhaens, only
three hundi-cd miles further south, haring a precisely similar climate, and where the features of soil and surface
are almost identical. The predominance of the natural family in the one case is remarkable, though not more
than it is in New Zealand, where to a certain extent they abound also, but their sudden cessation appears inexplicable
being unaccompanied by any com^flete suppression of other tribes equally numerous in Chili. Again, a casual
observer, on examining a collection of Chiloean plants, would be apt to conclude that these shrubby Myrteoe
must afl’ord a peculiar if not a predominant aspect to the vegetation, aud yet we hardly see them alluded to in the
excellent pubhshed accoimts of Chiloe, whence it is evident that botanical regions, as now defined, afford insufficient
criteria for obtaining a knoudedge of the distribution of natiual orders. That locabty where a group is most fully
developed, where the greatest number of its species gi-ow, may not be the one where that group is most conspicuous
or the individuals in greatest number. We may safely infer on this subject, tbat the law of natm-e is to be learned
from a knowledge of the absolute nmnbcrs of different species a country may possess, and the proportion the
groups bear to one another, and when gained it will be found to hai-mouize with other circmnstances : thus we find
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