''Acaena alpina'' is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

of the genus ''

Acaena ''Acaena'' is a genus of about 60 species of mainly evergreen, creeping herbaceous perennial plants and subshrubs in the family Rosaceae, native mainly to the Southern Hemisphere, notably New Zealand, Australia and South America, but with a few ...

'' known for its hardiness and durability. ''A. alpina'' is found throughout central Chile and Argentina. It can withstand a wide range of

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

s, including that of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, where it is commonly found. ''A.'' ''alpina'' can withstand both hot and cold temperatures as well as wet and dry seasons, though it preferentially grows at high altitudes. ''A. alpina'' was originally typified by

Eduard Friedrich Poeppig Eduard Friedrich Poeppig (16 July 1798 – 4 September 1868) was a German botanist, zoologist and explorer. Biography Poeppig was born in Plauen, Saxony. He studied medicine and natural history at the University of Leipzig, graduating with a med ...

and

Wilhelm Gerhard Walpers Wilhelm Gerhard Walpers (26 December 1816 in Mühlhausen – 18 June 1853 in Berlin) was a German botanist. This botanist is denoted by the List of botanists by author abbreviation, author abbreviation Walp. when Author citation (botany), citing a ...

in 1843.

Habitat and distribution

Chile, administrative divisions - en - monochrome 2018

''Acaena alpina'' is a shrub found along the mountain ranges of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. ''A. alpina'' is mainly distributed throughout Chile and Argentina, specifically along the Andes mountain range. This organism is also found along vegetation belts in South America, specifically along the

33rd parallel south The 33rd parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 33 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America. Around the world Starting at t ...

and most commonly at an elevation of 2100 m to 2500 m. In Chile, the range of ''A. alpina'' spans Regions Five through Nine, from north

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

to south La Araucanía. The geographical area covered by these regions experiences temperatures from 8 °C, in the winter months, to 23 °C, in the summer months. Annual precipitation across these regions ranges from 0 mm rainfall per month to 239 mm rainfall per month. ''A. alpina'' is found at high elevations within the

alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...

biome of the Andes Mountains, which is characterized by the absence of trees and a monthly mean temperature that does not exceed 10 °C, according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

. In addition to harsh climate conditions, ''A. alpina'' inhabits

inceptisol Inceptisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. They form quickly through alteration of parent material. They are more developed than Entisols. They have no accumulation of clays, iron oxide, aluminium oxide or organic matter. They have an o ...

ic soils that have a stony composition and little organic matter in the Andes highlands.

Description

''Acaena alpina'' grows vertically from an underground

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

root structure. Outgrowths can reach heights of 8 cm to 30 cm. Suberect stems of ''A. alpina'' extend from the rhizome, separated by short internodal regions, and produce numerous petioles which bear 2 to 3 pairs of terminal leaflets. The

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

of the petioles are very small and the 1st and 2nd pairs of leaflets are separated by less than 2 mm, giving the leaflets a pseudo-palmate appearance. The leaflets of ''A. alpina'' grow to be 2 cm to 7 cm long and adopt an obovate-lanceolate shape. ''A. alpina'' contains leaf sheaths extending the length of the petiole that have sericeous outer surfaces and glabrous inner surfaces. Stipular outgrowths at the base of the leaflets are absent.Alicia Marticorena. "Revisión del género Acaena (Rosaceae) en Chile," Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 93(3), pp. 412-454. 24 October 2006. Acaena alpina Habit and Burr

Flowers

Stems of ''Acaena alpina'' may extend a peduncle up to 27 cm long. The length of the peduncle is covered in fine white

trichome Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a pla ...

s and supports between 6-10 globose

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s, which can bear fruit from November to April. The inflorescences have basal

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s which are linear-lanceolate in shape. The ovoid-oblong burr of the inflorescence grows to be 7 mm to 15 mm in length. The burr is covered in fine white trichomes and is decorated with soft red-brown spines 2 m to 7 mm long. These spines may catch passing animals to increase the dispersal range of ''A. alpina''. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s of the inflorescence are ovate-oblong and grow to be 4 mm to 5 mm long. The inner surface of the sepal is glabrous while the outer surface is sericeous.

Uses

''Acaena alpina'' and various other species belonging to the genus ''Acaena'' are known as "cepacaballo" or "cadillo" in Chile. ''A. alpina'' is edible. Furthermore, many species of the ''Acaena'' genus are purported to have medicinal properties. For example, ''Acaena splendens'' is often used to treat

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

and

inflammation Inflammation (from la, wikt:en:inflammatio#Latin, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or Irritation, irritants, and is a protective response involving im ...

.N Backhouse, C Delporte, R Negrete, S Suárez, B K Cassels, E Breitmaier & C Schneider (1997) Antiinflammatory and Antipyretic Metabolites of Acaena splendens, International Journal of Pharmacognosy, 35:1, 49-54, DOI: 10.1076/phbi.35.1.49.13273

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15288071

alpina Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG is an automobile manufacturing company based in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany that develops and sells high-performance versions of BMW cars. Alpina works closely with BMW and ...

Shrubs