''Embothrium'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of two to eight species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) in the plant family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order ...

, 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 sou ...

, 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 eas ...

and adjacent western

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

; the genus occurs as far south as

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 ...

. Common names include Chilean firebush in English, notro in Argentina, ciruelillo, fosforito or notro chileno in Chilean Spanish. They are large

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 tree ...

s or

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s growing to 10–20 m tall with a trunk up to 70 cm diameter. ''E. coccineum'' and perhaps others, is also highly prone to suckering and unmanaged plants often form dense groves of many

sucker Sucker may refer to: General use * Lollipop or sucker, a type of confection * Sucker (slang), a slang term for a very gullible person * Hard candy ** Cough drop ** Mint (candy) Biology * Sucker (botany), a term for a shoot that arises undergro ...

ing shoots. The

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

, occasionally

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

in cold areas, 5–12 cm long and 2–4 cm broad. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...

s are produced in dense bunches, brilliant red (rarely white or yellow), tubular, 2.5-4.5 cm long, split into four lobes near the apex which reflex to expose the stamens and style.

Systematics

One or possibly two extant species are recognised. Two further species, ?''E. precoccineum'' and ?''E. pregrandiflorum'', have been described from the

Ventana Formation Ventana (Spanish for "window") can refer to: * Club Hotel de la Ventana, a hotel resort opened in 1911 in Argentina * Sierra de La Ventana, a small town in Tornquist Partido in Argentina * Ventana Cave, a National Historic Landmark in Arizona, U. ...

(Middle Eocene) from Patagonia, although their placement in ''Embothrium'' is uncertain as they are insufficiently known.

Species

*''

Embothrium coccineum ''Embothrium coccineum'', Chilean firetree or Chilean firebush, commonly known in Chile and Argentina as ''notro'', ''ciruelillo'' and ''fósforo'' is a small evergreen tree in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. It grows in the temperate for ...

'' J. R. Forst. & G. Forst. Chile, Argentina. *'' Embothrium lanceolatum'' Ruiz & Pav. (syn. ''E. coccineum'' var. ''lanceolatum'' (Ruiz & Pav.) O.Kuntze). Chile, Argentina; doubtfully distinct from ''E. coccineum''. *†'' Embothrium nebulosum'' Stover & Partridge (previously ''Granodiporites nebulosus'') Tertiary, southeastern Australia *†'' Embothrium precoccineum'' Berry (Middle Eocene fossils from the

, near Río Pichileufú, Río Negro Province, Argentina) *†''

Embothrium pregrandiflorum ''Embothrium'' is a genus of two to eight species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) in the plant family Proteaceae, native to southern South America, in Chile and adjacent western Argentina; the genus occurs as far south as Tierra del Fueg ...

'' Berry (Middle Eocene fossils from the Ventana Formation near Río Pichileufú, Río Negro Province, Argentina)

Classification

Together with '' Telopea'', ''

Oreocallis ''Oreocallis'' is a South American plant genus in the family Proteaceae. There is only one species, ''Oreocallis grandiflora'', which is native to mountainous regions in Peru and Ecuador. Previously, the genus was considered to have several spec ...

'' and ''

Alloxylon ''Alloxylon'' is a genus of four species in the family Proteaceae of mainly small to medium-sized trees. They are native to the eastern coast of Australia, with one species, '' A. brachycarpum'' found in New Guinea and the Aru Islands. The genus ...

'', ''Embothrium'' makes up a small group of terminal often red-flowering showy plants scattered around the southern edges of the

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of ...

. Known as the Embothriinae, this is an ancient group with roots in the mid

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

, when

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

and South America were linked by land. Almost all these species have red terminal flowers, and hence the subtribe's origin and floral appearance must predate the splitting of gondwana into Australia, Antarctica, and South America over 60 million years ago.

Pollinators

The prominent position and striking colour of many species within the subtribe both in Australia and South America strongly suggest they are adapted to pollination by birds, and have been for over 60 million years. In Argentine Patagonia, ''E. coccineum'' is pollinated by hummingbirds (

green-backed firecrown The green-backed firecrown (''Sephanoides sephaniodes'') is a hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Argentina, mainland Chile, and the Juan Fernández Islands.HBW and BirdLife International (2020 ...

) and insects ( tangle-veined flies and sweat bees).Devoto, M., N. H. Montaldo & D. Medan, 2006. Mixed hummingbird: Long-proboscid-fly pollination in ‘ornithophilous’ ''Embothrium coccineum'' (Proteaceae) along a rainfall gradient in Patagonia, Argentina. ''Austral Ecology'', 31: 512–519

Cultivation and uses

''Embothrium coccineum'' is grown as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

for its vivid red flowers. It is only successful in

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

s, which away from its native area includes western

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

(mainly the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

and the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

), the coast of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. Image:EmbothriumBark.jpg, Embothrium Bark Image:EmbothriumLeaves.jpg, Embothrium leaves Image:EmbothriumFlowers w.jpg, Embothrium flowers

References

External links

Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Embothrium''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3355974 Proteaceae Proteaceae genera Flora of southern South America Trees of Chile Trees of Argentina