the trees of great britain & ireland - Facsimile Books & other digitally ...
the trees of great britain & ireland - Facsimile Books & other digitally ...
the trees of great britain & ireland - Facsimile Books & other digitally ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
46 The Trees <strong>of</strong> Great Britain and Ireland<br />
inner 5 or 6 inches thick, fungous, tenacious, porous, and light, from which as from<br />
almost all o<strong>the</strong>r parts flows resin in abundance ; <strong>the</strong> outer is <strong>of</strong> nearly equal thickness,<br />
resembling cork cleft in various directions, and equally resinous with <strong>the</strong> inner."<br />
I may say that <strong>the</strong> district spoken <strong>of</strong> is not really part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Andes at all, but<br />
a coast range separated from <strong>the</strong> Andes by a wide tract <strong>of</strong> low country, mostly<br />
covered with forest. And as regards <strong>the</strong> bark, though I did not see any old <strong>trees</strong><br />
felled in Chile, <strong>the</strong> bark <strong>of</strong> <strong>trees</strong> <strong>of</strong> 40-50 years old felled in England does not show<br />
bark at all approaching <strong>the</strong> thickness described. Nei<strong>the</strong>r have I seen in <strong>the</strong><br />
districts I visited myself any <strong>trees</strong> as tall as he describes, or more than about 120<br />
feet. He states that it is also found "juxta oppidum Conceptionis." There are<br />
no mountains near Concepcion high enough for <strong>the</strong> Araucaria, and I think this<br />
must be based on false information.<br />
Don Dendariarena goes on to say that " <strong>the</strong> wood <strong>of</strong> this tree is <strong>of</strong> a yellowish<br />
white, fibrous, and full <strong>of</strong> very beautiful veins, capable <strong>of</strong> being polished and worked<br />
with facility. It is probably <strong>the</strong> best adapted for shipbuilding, as has been shown<br />
by <strong>the</strong> experiments made in <strong>the</strong> year 1780, in consequence <strong>of</strong> which orders were<br />
given to supply <strong>the</strong> squadron commanded by Don Antonio Bacaro, <strong>the</strong>n at anchor<br />
in <strong>the</strong> port <strong>of</strong> Talcahuano."<br />
"The resin abounding in all parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tree is white, its smell like that<br />
<strong>of</strong> frankincense, its taste not unpleasant. It is applied in plaster as a powerful<br />
remedy for contusions and putrid ulcers, it cicatrises recent wounds, mitigates<br />
headaches, and is used as a diuretic, in pills, to facilitate and cleanse venereal ulcers.<br />
The Indians make use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fruit <strong>of</strong> this tree as a very nourishing food ; <strong>the</strong>y eat<br />
it raw as well as boiled and roasted, with it <strong>the</strong>y form pastry, and distil from it a<br />
spirituous liquor."<br />
Lambert says: " In a letter which I have lately received M. Pavon mentions<br />
an important particular, not noticed in <strong>the</strong> above description, namely, that <strong>the</strong> male<br />
tree is not above half <strong>the</strong> size <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> female, and seldom exceeding 40 feet in height."<br />
I am not able to confirm this from personal observation ei<strong>the</strong>r in Chile or England,<br />
and Dr. Masters 1 says that <strong>the</strong>re is no reliable distinction between <strong>the</strong> male and<br />
female tree, whilst it is said in an account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Araucarias in <strong>the</strong> Piltdown<br />
Nurseries 2 that <strong>the</strong> habit <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tree is no guide to <strong>the</strong> sex.<br />
It was first described by <strong>the</strong> Abbe Molina, who called it Pinus araucana.<br />
Ruiz and Pavon who explored parts <strong>of</strong> Chile soon afterwards sent specimens to<br />
Europe to a Frenchman named Dombey, which were described by Lamarck under<br />
<strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> Dombeya chilensis, but <strong>the</strong> generic name he gave cannot stand because<br />
it was previously used for a genus <strong>of</strong> Sterculiacese.<br />
In 1795 Captain Vancouver visited <strong>the</strong> coast <strong>of</strong> Chile, accompanied by Archibald<br />
Menzies, who procured some seeds which he sowed on board ship, 3 and succeeded<br />
in bringing home living plants, which he gave to Sir Joseph Banks, who planted one<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m in his own garden at Spring Grove, and sent <strong>the</strong> remaining five plants to<br />
Kew. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se, after being kept in <strong>the</strong> greenhouse till about 1806 or 1808,<br />
1 Card. Chron. 1 890, ii. 667. 2 Hid. 1 891, i. 342.<br />
3 Sir Joseph Hooker, who knew Menzies personally, tells me that he took <strong>the</strong>se seeds from <strong>the</strong> dessert table <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Governor.<br />
Araucaria 47<br />
was planted out on what is now called Lawn L, and was at first protected during<br />
winter by a frame covered with mats. Here it grew for many years and attained<br />
<strong>the</strong> height <strong>of</strong> 12 feet in 1836 (fide Loudon), but eventually died in <strong>the</strong> autumn <strong>of</strong><br />
1892 at <strong>the</strong> age <strong>of</strong> nearly 100 years. 1 This is probably <strong>the</strong> tree figured by Lambert.<br />
The first person who gives any account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tree in its native forests, so<br />
far as I know, is Dr. Poeppig, whose account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tree is printed in Companion<br />
to Bot. Mag. i. 351-355- It did not, however, become common in cultivation<br />
till <strong>the</strong> celebrated botanical traveller William Lobb, who was sent to South America<br />
by <strong>the</strong> firm <strong>of</strong> Veitch, sent home in 1844 a good supply <strong>of</strong> seeds which produced<br />
most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> finest <strong>trees</strong> now in England.<br />
No account <strong>of</strong> his travels were, however, published, and on applying to Messrs<br />
Veitch before I went to Chile in 1901 I was informed that his journals, which I<br />
wished to consult, could not be found. The late Miss Marianne North was <strong>the</strong> first<br />
English traveller who published any account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tree in its native forests, which<br />
she visited on her last journey in November 1884, mainly, as she says, for <strong>the</strong><br />
purpose <strong>of</strong> painting this tree. But, owing to <strong>the</strong> difficulty and danger at that time<br />
<strong>of</strong> reaching <strong>the</strong> Andes, she went to <strong>the</strong> coast range <strong>of</strong> Araucania, called Nahuelbuta,<br />
which lies between <strong>the</strong> sea and <strong>the</strong> town <strong>of</strong> Angol, in <strong>the</strong> same district where <strong>the</strong> tree<br />
was probably first discovered. After describing her ride up from Angol to <strong>the</strong><br />
mountains, which are here covered with a beautiful vegetation, among which<br />
Gunnera, Lapageria, Embothrium, Fuchsia, Buddleia, Alstroemeria, and many o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
favourite plants in English gardens are conspicuous, she says: 2<br />
" The first Araucarias we reached were in a boggy valley, but <strong>the</strong>y also grew<br />
to <strong>the</strong> very tops <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rocky hills, and seemed to drive all o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>trees</strong> away, covering<br />
many miles <strong>of</strong> hill and valley ; but few specimens were to be found outside that<br />
forest. The ground underneath was gay with purple and pink everlasting peas, and<br />
some blue and white ones I had never seen in gardens, gorgeous orange orchids, and<br />
many tiny flowers whose names I did not know, which died as soon as <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
picked, and could not be kept to paint. I saw none <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>trees</strong> over too feet<br />
in height or 20 in circumference, and, strange to say, <strong>the</strong>y seemed all to be very old<br />
or very young. I saw none <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> noble specimens <strong>of</strong> middle age we have in<br />
English parks, with <strong>the</strong>ir lower branches resting on <strong>the</strong> ground. They did not<br />
become quite flat at <strong>the</strong> top, like those <strong>of</strong> Brazil, but were slightly domed like<br />
those in Queensland, and <strong>the</strong>ir shiny leaves glittered in <strong>the</strong> sunshine, while <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
trunks and branches were hung with white lichen, and <strong>the</strong> latter weighed down<br />
with cones as big as one's head. The smaller cones <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> male <strong>trees</strong> were shaking<br />
<strong>of</strong>f clouds <strong>of</strong> golden pollen, and were full <strong>of</strong> small grubs; <strong>the</strong>se attracted flights <strong>of</strong><br />
bronzy green parrakeets, which were busy over <strong>the</strong>m. Those birds are said to be<br />
so clever that <strong>the</strong>y can find a s<strong>of</strong>t place in <strong>the</strong> <strong>great</strong> shell <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cone when ripe,<br />
into which <strong>the</strong>y get <strong>the</strong> point <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir sharp beak, and fidget with it until <strong>the</strong> whole<br />
cone cracks and <strong>the</strong> nuts fall to <strong>the</strong> ground. Men eat <strong>the</strong> nuts too, when properly<br />
cooked, like chestnuts. The most remarkable thing about <strong>the</strong> tree is its bark,<br />
1 Cf. Kew Bull. 1893, p. 24.<br />
2 Marianne North, Recollections <strong>of</strong> a Happy Life, 2nd ed. ii. 323, 324 (1892).