''Fabiana imbricata'', vernacular names pichi or false heath, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Solanaceae,

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to dry upland slopes in the foothills of the southern Andes of Chile and Argentina. Growing to tall and wide, it is a frost-hardy, heath-like

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 ...

mound-forming shrub. It has needle-like leaves and small white, tubular flowers in early summer. The upright

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

''F. imbricata'' f. ''violacea'', of horticultural origin, bears masses of pale violet flowers. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit.

Description

''Fabiana imbricata'' is a long-lived shrub distributed via seeds, and broadly distributed within South America. Fire and wind, followed by post-fire high precipitation in the early spring are requirements for successful ''F. imbricata'' shrub requirement. Furthermore, ''F. imbricata'' is a keystone species within these ecosystems, reducing species richness while simultaneously increasing fuel load during grassland colonization events, altering the structure of the surrounding ecosystem.

Uses

''F. imbricata'' foliage has traditionally been employed as a

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics i ...

and digestive, and has been proven to have a dose-dependent gastroprotective effect, in studies evaluating the main

sesquiterpene Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and often have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be cyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations. Biochemical modificat ...

of the foliage. Interest in ''F. imbricata'' has extended into the development of

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called " test-tube experiments", these studies in biology ...

culturing of the plant’s tissue for the harvesting of secondary metabolites for further research.

Taxonomy

''Fabiana imbricata'' is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

for the genus ''Fabiana''. A recent analysis of the nightshade family Solanaceae, (including 89 genera and 190 species), pinpointed more accurately than hitherto the relationships of the genus ''Fabiana'' to other genera within the family. This analysis, more rigorous than its predecessors, established through the study of chloroplast DNA, that Fabiana is a sister clade with the genus Calibrachoa and that these two genera are sisters to

Petunia ''Petunia'' is genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word ''petun'', meaning "tobacco," from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tende ...

. This group together belong to

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

Petunieae, within subfamily

Petunioideae Petunioideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Solanaceae, the nightshades. It contains thirteen genera, as follows:Armando T. Hunziker: The Genera of Solanaceae. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G., Ruggell, Liechtenstein 2001. *'' Benthamie ...

of the family Solanaceae. This analysis was limited to examining one species per each of these three genera, due to its breadth. These data are in agreement with the

karyotypic A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

analysis of Acosta, et al., which examined 41 populations of 5 genera (21 species) within the Nicotianeae tribe of Solanaceae (later reorganized by into several new groups, including the supergeneric group Petunieae by Olmstead and Migid, el at 2008). This study found 2n=2x=18 (x=9) for ''F. imbricata'', ''F. densa'', and ''F. denudata'', ''Calibrachoa'' sp. as well as ''Petunia'' species examine. They hypothesize x=7 to have been the basal number for Solanales, and the x=12 to have derived from the tetraploid level, followed by tetraploid reduction. Within the groups surveyed, this methodology does not give rise to the same phylogenetic tree overall as that of Olmstead and Migid, but for Fabiana and sister genera, it is in agreement. While the agreement of the two chloroplast analyses with the karyotyic analysis is valuable, current data does not permit the detailed phylogenetic analysis of Fabiana below the genus level.

References

External links

Plants for a Future entry
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1390368 Petunioideae Flora of Chile