Long before tbe FnlUand Islands were colonized from Britain, the present plant had excited considerable
curiosity by the very remarkable mode of gi-owth it there assumes aud its fomiing a feature in the landscape that
strikes tho most casual observer. Now that these islands have been annexed formally to tbe British dominions,
the Bolax or Balsam-bog is a production of still gi-eater general interest. In whatever portion of this country the
voyager may land, he cannot proceed far along the beach without entering groves of Tussac, wliose leaves often wave
over his head ; nor turn his steps iidand without seeing, scattered over the ground, huge, perfectly hemispherical
hillocks of a pale and dh-ty yellow green colom- and uniform sm-face. so hard that one may break the knuckles on
them. If the day be warm, a faint aromatic smell is perceived in theh- neighbom-hood and drops or tears of a viscid
white gum flow from various parts of these vegetable hillocks. They stand apai-t from one another, varying from 2-4
feet in height, and though often hemispherical, are, at times, much broader than high, and even eight or ten feet
long. The very old ones Begin to decay near the ground, where a ci-umbling away commences aU round, and having
but a nai-i-ow attaclunent, they resemble immense balls or spheres laid upon the earth. Upon close examination, each
mass is found to be herbaceous tlu-oughout, the outer coat formed of innumerable little shoots rising to the same
height, covered with bubricating leaves, and so densely packed tbat it is even difiicult to cut out a portion ivith a
knife, w hile the surface is of such uniformity that lichens sometimes spread over it, and other plants vegetate on its
surface in the occasional holes or decayed places. If. at a very early period, a young plant of the Bolax be removed
and examined, the origin of these gi-eat baUs may be traced; for each of them, of whatever size, is the product of a
single seed, and the result of many, perhaps huudi-eds of years’ growth. In a young state the plant consists of a very
long slender perpendicular root, like a whip-lash, that penetrates the soü. At its smnmit are borne two or three smaE,
branclüng stems, each densely covered for its whole length with sheathing leaves. As the individual increases in
size, the branches divide more and more, radiating regularly from the rooting centre, instead of prolonging rapidly;
these send out lateral short shoots from their apices, and in such numbers that the mass is rendered very dense, and
by the time tbe plant has gained the diameter of a foot, it is quite smooth and convex on the sm-face. The solitary
root has become evidently insulficient for the wants of the mass of indiriduals, which are nom-ished by fibrous
radicles, proceeding from below the leaves, and deriving nutrhnent from the quantity of vegetable matter which the
decayed foliage of the lower part of the stems and older branches affords.
The B. glebaria yields a gum, whicli is white when oozing from the wounded stems and leaves, but soon tm-ns
red-brown on drjing; it has been used as an application to cuts aud otber lesions with apparent effect, and for the
cure of Gonorrhoea, with more doubtful success.
From ÎÜ-, Webster’s account it is abundant in Staten Land, and is, I believe, also found in perfection in
Patagonia. In Hermite Island it never assumes the form it does in the Falklands,
3. HUANACA, Cav.
1. H fanaca Cavanillem, DC.; caule scapiformi, foliis omnibus radicabbus longe petiolatis palmatim
7-8-sectis segmentis anguste linearibus acutis integris trifldisve petiolo basi in vaginam cfliatam dbatato,
caule seu scape erecto sbnplici striato apice umbeUam 3-radiatam gerente, foliobs involucralibus tripartitis
basi cbiatis, umbeUubs multi-radiatis lateralibus elongatis diutius florentibus intermedio sessili, floribus
pedicebatis, fructu ovato, mericarpiis dorso valde compressis concavis lateraliter 3-jugis. H. Cavanillesii,
DC. Prodr. vol. iv. p. 81. Poire t Enegcl. 8v.ppl. vol. bi. p. 08. II. acaulis, Cavanilles, Icon. vol. vi. p. 18.
t. 528. f, 2. OEnanthe Huanaca, Spreng. Umbell. Spec. p. 37. et in Roem. et Sclmltes Sgst. Veg. vol. vi. p.428.
Spanantbe Huanaca, la g a sca Am. N a t. vol. ii. p. 93.
H ab , Strait of Magalhaens ; Cape Gregory, Capt. King.
Radix fusiformis, pro planta majuscula, 3-pollicaris. Folia longe petiolata ; petiolo gracili, erecto, 2-4 unc
longo, basi iu vaginam brevem latam cülatam dilatato ; laminæ segmentis f - l unc. longis, sub 1 lin. latis, glaberi
t;
rimis V. sparse pilosis. Qaulis scapiformis, folia vis duplo superans, teres, ad apicem tripartitam umbellas 3 simplices
foliaque 2 gerens ; foliis caulinis involucnim simulantibus trisectis, basi ciliatis. TJmbellæ 2 laterales pedunculatæ,
intermedia sessili. InvolucelU foliola lineari-oblonga, subacuta, ciliata. Fedieelli umbellæ intermediæ elongati,
coeteri breviusculi. Flores parvi, pauci, stériles. Calycis limbus breviter et obtuse 5-dentatus. Fetala ovata»
incurva, integi-a. Fnictus ovatus, obtusus, sub 2 lin. longus, umbellæ intermediæ solummodo mihi notus. Mericarpia
dorso concava, trijuga.
A very little known Patagonian plant, remarkable for the resemblanee its almost leafless stem bears to a scape,
which induced De Candolle to substitute the name of its first describer for that of H. acaulis. Assuming the view here
taken to be correct, the branching of this plant is trichotomous, for the three peduncles, bearmg each a simple
umbel, arise from one point, the terminal or central branch flowers first, and therefore cannot be considered as the
intermediate division of a compound umbel, in which the external rays always open before those nearer the axis :
the structure of the inflorescence is similar to Astrantia (vid. Broira in Linn. Trans, vol. xi. p. 92).
The Huanaca Camnillesii was first discovered at Port Desire by Née, who accompanied the Spanish voyager
Malaspinas ; and again by Mr. Darwin in the same locality.
4. A PIUM, L .
1. Apium graveolens, Linn. Sp. F l. n. 369. BC. Frodr. vol. iv. p. 101. Gaud, in Ann. Sc. N a t. vol. v.
p. 105. et in Freyc. Voy. Bot. p. 135. D Urville in 3Iém. Soc. I/inn. Paris, vol. iv. p. 613. A. australe,
Pe t. Thouars FL Ins. Trist. d ’Acun. p. 43. Carmichael in L in n . Soc. Trans, vol. xii. p. 506. A. prostratum,
Lahill. Nov. Holl. vol. i. p. 76. 1 .103. Vent. Hort. Malm. t. 81. A. Antarcticum, Bank s et Sol. MHS. in
Mus. Banks, cum icone. Petroselinum prostratum, BC . Prodr. vol. iv. p. 102.
H ab. South Cliili, Tierra del Puego and the Palklaud Islands ; abundant on th e shores of the latter :
also in Tristan d ’Acnnha.
Apparently our common Celery, and even more abimdant in the countries enumerated above, than in Europe.
Except its often assuming a p]-ostrate habit in the Antai-ctic regions, I perceive no external difference from the
northern state of the plant ; its properties are, however, very unlike, for the wild Antarctic specimens are always
mild and wholesome, insomuch that the otRcers and crews of the Expedition made constant use of it, both raw and
boiled like spinach. This absence of all injui-ious or even disagreeable properties may perhaps be owing, in some
degi’ee, to the want of the dii-ect rays of the sun, which is seldom bright and clear, and often inrisible for many
days in the height of smnmer in these far southern regions. If this be so, we have a natural cause producing the
same results which the skill of the gardener effects in oui- more favoured climate.
The Apium graveolens is also a native of Tasmania aud the Cape of Good Hope..
5. CBANTZLk, N u tt.
1. CiUNTZiA Uneata, NuttaU, Gen. Pla n t. Am. v o l.i. p. 177. DU. P /W r. vol. iv. p. 70. T o rr.et
Gray, Fl. Am. Bor. vol. ii. p. 600. C. attenuata, Hook, et Arn. in Bo t. Jliscell. vol. iv. p. 346. Hydrocotyle
lineata, Mich. FL vol. i. p. 162. R k h a rd , 3Tonogr. Hydr. p. 77. f. 38. I I . Cbiuensis, Spreng. in Boetn. et
Schultes Syst. Veg. vol. vi. p. 355. Elatine, foHis oppositis, Gronov. Virgin, p. 62. (Ta b . C.)
I Iab. Ealkland Islands ; abundant near the streams communicating between fresh-water lagoons and
the sea, generally buried iu gravel.
I have no hesitation iu referring this plant to the tribe Seselinea of Koch, where it ranks naturally between