''Citronella mucronata'', the huillipatagua () or Chilean citronella tree, is an evergreen tree native to

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 occurs from 30 to 41° South latitude. In Chile, the tree grows from 500 to 2000 meters above sea-level in low altitude interior valleys and coastal mountains.http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/FloraEnglish/HighResPages/EH0290.htm

Description

It reaches up to 10 m (30 ft) and 1 m (3 ft) in diameter. The bark is dark gray and rough. The leaves are alternate, leathery, the edge is entire or toothed, ovate or oblong with an acute apex (tip) which ends in a mucro (sharp point). The leaves are about 4,5-6 long and 2,5–4 cm and wide, with

domatia A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant. Ideally domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabi ...

in the axils of the side veins, and the veins are yellow, the leaves are glossy green above, and paler below. Small petioles. The flowers are

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

and whitish yellow and arranged in terminal

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s 4–8 cm long. The calyx is made up by 5

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, the corolla has 5 free

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s. The fruit is a spherical

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

about 1–1.2 cm in diameter which is purple when mature.

Cultivation and uses

The tree has been planted in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

References and external links

*Donoso, C. 2005. Árboles nativos de Chile. Guía de reconocimiento. Edición 4. Marisa Cuneo Ediciones, Valdivia, Chile. 136p. *Hechenleitner P., Gardner M, Thomas P., Echeverría C., Escobar B., Brownless P. & Martínez C. 2005. Plantas Amenazadas del Centro-Sur de Chile. Distribución, Conservación y Propagación. Primera Edición. Universidad Austral de Chile y Real Jardín Botánico de Edimburgo, Valdivia. 188p. * Hoffmann, Adriana. 1998. Flora Silvestre de Chile, Zona Central. Edición 4. Fundación Claudio Gay, Santiago. 254p.
Citronella mucronata in ''Encyclopedia of Chilean Flora''
Trees of Chile Cardiopteridaceae Trees of Mediterranean climate Ornamental trees Least concern plants {{tree-stub