oquito palm
(_Jubaea spectabilis_) was to be found throughout this part of Chile,
but it has been almost completely destroyed for its saccharine sap,
from which a treacle was made. One of the most striking forest trees
is the _pehuen_ or Chilean pine (_Araucaria imbricata_), which often
grows to a height of 100 ft. and is prized by the natives for its
fruit. Three indigenous species of the beech--the _roble_ (_Fagus
obliqua_), _coyhue_ (_F. Dombeyi_), and _rauli_ (_F. procera_)--are
widely diffused and highly prized for their wood, especially the
first, which is misleadingly called _roble_ (oak). Most of the woods
used in construction and manufactures are found between the Bio-Bio
river and the Taytao peninsula, among which are the _alerce_
(_Fitzroya patagonica_), _cipres_ or Chiloe cypress (_Libocedrus
tetragona_), the Chilean cypress (_L. Chilensis_), _lingue_ (_Persea
lingue_), laurel (_Laurus aromatica_), _avellano_ (_Guevina
avellana_), _luma_ (_Myrtus luma_), _espino_ (_Acacia cavenia_) and
many others. Several exotic species have been introduced into this
part of Chile, some of which have thriven even better than in their
native habitats. Among these are the oak, elm, beech (_F. sylvatica_),
walnut, chestnut, poplar, willow and eucalyptus. Through the central
zone the plains are open and there are forests on the mountain slopes,
but in the southern zone there are no plains, with the exception of
small areas near the Straits of Magellan, and the forests are
universal. In the variety, size and density of their growth these
forests remind one of the tropics. They are made up, in great part, of
the evergreen beech (_Fagus betuloides_), the deciduous antarctic
beech (_F. antarctica_),[3] and Winter's bark (_Drimys Winteri_),
intermingled with a dense undergrowth composed of a great variety of
shrubs and plants, among which are _Maytenus magellanica, Arbutus
rigida, Myrtus memmolaria_, two or three species of _Berberis_, wild
currant (_Ribes antarctica_), a trailing blackberry, tree ferns,
reed-like grasses and innumerable parasites. On the eastern side of
the Cordillera, in the extreme south, the climate is drier and open,
and grassy plains are found, but on the western side the dripping
forests extend from an altitude of 1000 to 1500 ft. down to the level
of the sea. A peculiar vegetable product of this inclement region is a
small globular fungus