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348 FLORA ANTAECTICA. [Fuegia, the
of momitaiu plants, having the upper limit in elevation whieh they attain sharply deiiued, throughout several decrees
of latitude, but which descend aud assume other aspects in a warmer climate. This, also, I have attempted to
express on paper by dotted lines drawn down to the sea-leve], from the Chilian positions of 1\ betnloides and
F. obUjua The abrupt termination of all the Beeches at about lat. 35°. occurs where the equallv sudden dumge in
the climate o northem and southem Cliih takes place. These trees, like all extra-tropical plants, reqmre a certain
degree of cold, and m pmsumg then- range towards the warmer parallels, tlmy ascend the moimtains. Thev are
however, even more dependent upon humidity aud au equable climate than ou temperature; and beimr furtheé
impatient of vicissitudes and dryness, they wiU not pass beyond the influence of those S.W, winds wliieh rlreneh
aU parts of western South Amencn, alpine and lowland, south of the parallel of 3 7 °.
AéùZ zu ifj r<iÀ-en £v7n AppeTuéi.-c J ’,-
One d e g r e e = 0 ZO u i c / i .
lO O O fP o fe le r , ^ 0 - Z Z ù i c h .
A a n g ii o/'Mcec/tee =I30Omcles.
One of the few attractions of spring m Antarctic America, is the bursting of the leaf and flower buds of the
deciduous-leaved Beech from their resinous gummy scales ; when a debghtftdly fragi-ant odo.n pervades the woods'
The unfolding of the plaited fohage was watched with great interest, for we bad not witnessed for years any process
L t t e n ^ n t p t n f f i “ I’“ “ - ’ of the flrst burst
best m the island, for ground-frames of houses, planks for vessels, and beams. The piraguas are built chie/ly of
this wood. There are two sorts, one an evergreen, and the other a deeiduons-leaved tree. It is evidently a Jkecb
and the same that grows in aU parts of the Strait of Magalhaens; the smooth-leaved sort is F. obliqua Mirb ’■
Capt. Kmg attaches the name of “ Eoble” to his specimen of D.Duafayi ^
Falklands, etc?) FLO RA ANTARCTICA. 349
P late CXXII. Fig. 1, male flower; fig. 2, involucre and female flower; fig. 3, transverse section of ditto,
more advanced ; fig. 4, ripe acliænmm ; fig. 5, the same ; fig. 6, involucre after the achænia have fallen away all
2. F agus ohliqua, Mirb., Mém. Mus. H ist. N a t. vol. xiv. p. 4 6 5 .1 .4 . Hooh. Bo t. Journ. vol. ii. p. 1 5 3 .
H ab . Strait of Magalhaens ; P o rt Famine, Capt. King.
This I take to be the third kind of Beech alluded to by Capt. King as a native of Port Famine, in his
collections, however, no specimen of the present species occurs. I t is distinguishable from the former chiefly
by the larger, nan’owcr, rhomboidal, more acute leaves.
3. F a g u s Pumilio, Poepp. et Endlicher, Nov. Gen. et Sp. P la n t. Per. et Chili, vol. ii. p. 68. t. 1 9 5 .
Hook.in Journ. Bo t. vol.ii. p. 1 5 4 . Calusparassus Pmnilio (?), Homb. et Jaeq. in Vog. au Pole Sud, Bot.
Dicot. t. 8.
H a b . Strait of Magalliaens; P o rt Pamine (?), Capt. King.
I have alluded to this Beech (under F. Antarctica) as perhaps only a state of that plant, differing in the leaves
being pubescent on both surfaces and more closely and deeply serrated. The figure of Poeppig and Endlicher is
excellent ; that of MM. Hombron and Jacquinot, in the ‘ Voy. au Pole Sud represents a naiTower and smaUer-
leaved, perhaps, alpine state ; or more probably a different species, those authors having included it in their not
yet described genus Calusparassus. Judging from their figures of other Antarctic Fagi, also called Calusparassi,
the genus appears to include only those evergreen species of which the leaves are not phcate in vernation,
which those of the F. Pumilio decidedly ai-e, both in our specimens and those described and figured by Poeppig.
The latter author states this to be a short prostrate tree, eight and twelve feet long, with a mode of growth
not unlike that of Pinus Pumilio. It marks (in Chili) the transition zone, from the erect trees, whose superior
limit is indicated by the F. alpina, to the fi-igid region, where snow lies for eight months of the year, and where
the shrubby Composiioe, and the Violets that grow in dense capitate tufts, and other handsome plants, abound.
I have marked the habitat assigned to Capt. King’s specimen with a query, the label attached to it bearing
“ Cape Fairweather ” , where it is exceedingly improbable that any Fagus should exist.
3. F agus hettdoides, Mirb., Mém. du Mus. vol. xiv. p. 4 65. t. 4. Hook. Journ. Bot. vol. ii. p . 153.
F. diibia, Mirb. et Hook. I. c. F. Forsteri, Hook. I. c. p. 156. t. viii. Calusparassus Forsteri, Homb. et Jacq.
in Vog. au Pole Sud, Bot. Mo7iocot. Phan. t . 6 . 2 . C. betuloides, Homb. et Jacq. I. c. Bo t. Dicot. t . 7. f. r.
Betula Antarctica, Forst. Co7nm. Goett. vol. ix. p. 45. IVilld. Sp. PI. vol. iv. p. 466. Bank s et Sol. in Bibl.
Baiiks. cum icone. (Tab. CXXIV.)
H ab. South Chib to Cape Horn, very abimdant; Com77iei'son, Banks and Solander, Forster, an d all
succeeding voyagers.
The synonyms above enumerated certainly all belong to one species, the common Evergreen Beech of Fuegia,
and I incline to add the F. alpina, Poepp. and Endlicher, as stated at p. 347.
P late CXXIV. Fig. 1, male flower ; fig. 2, involucre with female flowers ; fig. 3 and 4, female flowers removed
from ditto ; fig. 5 and 6, longitudinal sections of the same, showing the ovules ; fig. 7, involucre, after the achænia
have fallen away :—all magnified.
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