''Arjona patagonica'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Schoepfiaceae native to southern

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 ...

Taxonomy

''Arjona patagonica'' was given its scientific name by

Jacques Bernard Hombron Jacques Bernard Hombron (1798–1852) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Hombron served on the French voyage of the ''Astrolabe'' and ''Zélée'' between 1837 and 1840 to investigate the perimeter of Antarctica. He described a number of p ...

, but a full

species description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

was published by

Joseph Decaisne Joseph Decaisne (7 March 1807 – 8 January 1882) was a French botanist and agronomist. He became an ''aide-naturaliste'' to Adrien-Henri de Jussieu (1797-1853), who served as the chair of rural botany. It was during this time that he began to stu ...

in 1853 in the second volume of botany of the ''Voyage au Pôle Sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée''. In the title page of this book, both Hombron and

Honoré Jacquinot Honoré Jacquinot (1 August 1815 in Moulins-Engilbert - 22 May 1887 in Nevers) was a French surgeon and zoologist. Jacquinot was the younger brother of the naval officer Charles Hector Jacquinot, and sailed with him as a surgeon and naturalist on ...

are credited as authors, although this apparently may have been in error. Either way, only Hombron is credited as authority for the name ''A. patagonica'' by Decaisne. ''A. rigida'' was described in 1878 in order to replace the ''A. tuberosa'' described by Rodolfo Amando Philippi in 1864, the plant described by Philippi was not the ''A. tuberosa'' originally described by Antonio José Cavanilles. It was later regarded as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''A. patagonica''. Carl Skottsberg placed ''A. patagonica'' in his section ''Euarjona'' in 1916, together with ''A. tuberosa''.

Distribution

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

it has been collected in the provinces of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Chubut Chubut may refer to: * Chubut Province, Argentina * Chubut River in the Chubut Province * Chubut steamer duck The Chubut steamer duck or white-headed flightless steamer duck (''Tachyeres leucocephalus'') is a flightless duck endemic to Argenti ...

La Pampa La Pampa () is a sparsely populated province of Argentina, located in the Pampas in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Luis, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza. History I ...

, Mendoza, Neuquén, Río Negro,

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

, Santa Cruz and

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

. In

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

it has been collected in the regions of Araucanía, Coquimbo, Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins,

Magallanes Magallanes may refer to: * Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521), Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world * Strait of Magellan, the strait between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, located in Chile Places * Magallane ...

and

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 ...

Uses

According to a 1968 report by Martínez Crovetto on the (former) uses of plants (i.e.

ethnobotany Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

), this species formed an important part of the diet of the Ona people, who called it ''téen'' in their language, one of their only sources of carbohydrates. The tubers are 5 to 9mm wide, and up to 20 cm long. The tubers shrink to 2mm in diameter during flowering in Spring, and are best harvested in fall months of March and April. They contain mostly water and some polyphenols. The plant is eaten by livestock; it has been rated as nutritionally extremely poor as a

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

in terms of palatability, digestibility and crude protein content according to the 1987 Lara & Cruz system.

References

Schoepfiaceae Plants described in 1853 Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne {{Santalales-stub