''Lactoris fernandeziana'' is a flowering

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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

of ''Masatierra'' — Robinson Crusoe Island, of the

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic i ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

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 is the only extant species in the genus ''Lactoris''.

Taxonomy

The species is now included in

Aristolochiaceae The Aristolochiaceae () are a family, the birthwort family, of flowering plants with seven genera and about 400 known species belonging to the order Piperales. The type genus is ''Aristolochia'' L. Description They are mostly perennial, herb ...

following APG IV (2016). Morphological data are not clear concerning the classification of ''Lactoris'', but molecular data place it in the Aristolochiaceae. In the fossil record, pollen has been found which seems to be related to the living ''Lactoris'' species.

Habitat and conservation

''Lactoris fernandeziana'' seems to be

wind-pollinated Anemophily or wind pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind. Almost all gymnosperms are anemophilous, as are many plants in the order Poales, including grasses, sedges, and rushes. Other common anemophilous plan ...

. The wild population of about 1000 plants has low genetic diversity, and grows on foggy and rainy slopes, usually as an understory plant but sometimes in full sun. Cultivation of seedlings has generally been unsuccessful, although cuttings have worked better and better knowledge of preferred growing conditions may make cultivation easier.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q131659, from2=Q13770288, from3=Q81315326, from4=Q13770353 Endemic flora of the Juan Fernández Islands Piperales genera Monotypic magnoliid genera Aristolochiaceae Robinson Crusoe Island

Taxonomy

Habitat and conservation

See also

References