Berkeley in the "Linnean Transactions" volume 19 page 37, under the name of Cyttaria Darwinii: the Chilean species is the C.Berteroii.

This genus is allied to Bulgaria.); I found a second species on another species of beech in Chile: and Dr.Hooker informs me that just lately a third species has been discovered on a third species of beech in Van Dieman's Land.

How singular is this relationship between parasitical fungi and the trees on which they grow, in distant parts of the world! In Tierra del Fuego the fungus in its tough and mature state is collected in large quantities by the women and children, and is eaten un-cooked.

It has a mucilaginous, slightly sweet taste, with a faint smell like that of a mushroom.
With the exception of a few berries, chiefly of a dwarf arbutus, the natives eat no vegetable food besides this fungus.

In New Zealand, before the introduction of the potato, the roots of the fern were largely consumed; at the present time, I believe, Tierra del Fuego is the only country in the world where a cryptogamic plant affords a staple article of food.
The zoology of Tierra del Fuego, as might have been expected from the nature of its climate and vegetation, is very poor.