296
FLOWERING PLANTS.
[Chap. X.
1842
"Of the ninety-seven flowering plants indigenous to Auckland and Campbell Islands, about thirteen are common to the southern extremity of the American continent; but none, except the Veronica, is remarkable for beauty. The splendid Chrysobactron Rossii and lovely Compositæ of these groups have no representatives here. Fuegia, however, boasts some conspicuous plants: the holly-leaved barberry (Berberis ilicifolia) is very handsome; Geum Chiloense is an established favourite in our gardens; and a few of the smaller alpine species may vie in grace with those of the Scottish Alps. There is a want of bright tint in the landscape; or of any one conspicuous plant which may give it colouring. This is hardly compensated by Tierra del Fuego being the native place of that universal favourite, the scarlet Fuchsia; a plant of peculiarly graceful form, whose culture requires little care, and which is, perhaps, among the most valuable ornaments of our gardens, whether of the rich or poor. Though not seen on Hermite Island, the Fuchsia flourishes on the neighbouring coast of Fuegia, and adorns with its bright flowers the gloomy forest of the beech-tree: for both inhabit the valleys, choked by everlasting glaciers, which descend from the mountains to the sea, on the west coast of this inhospitable land. The Fuchsia and other plants, which might be considered tender for this region, flourish in the equable though chilly temperature maintained by the presence of these sluggish and perennial cataracts of ice on the
