''Lomatia ferruginea'', commonly known as fuinque, is a small

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 ...

tree in the family Proteaceae. It is native to southern

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 ...

and

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 ...

, the

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

region of

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 sout ...

. In Chile it grows from

Curicó Province Curicó Province ( es, Provincia de Curicó) is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule (VII). Its capital is the city of Curicó. It lies between the provinces of Colchagua and Talca and extends from the Pacific to the Ar ...

to Magallanes (35 to 49°). It is found mostly in deep and moist soils.

Description

''Lomatia ferruginea'' grows to tall. It is

, with few branches, newly shoots are covered in reddish-brown hairs. Composite, bipinnate, fern-like opposite and petiolate leaves, 13–14 cm long and 8–10 cm wide, green above and reddish-brown below. The flowers are hermaphrodite and pedicellate, 2 cm long, in racemes shorter than the leaves, made up by 14-16 opposite flowers, grayish-yellow in bud, every flower is formed by 4

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s which are oval lanceolate bicolor, reddish brown with green apex, then thinned and again wide at the concave apex of 1.5 cm long, with sessile anthers at the concave apex of the petals, long

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

, red bulky and oblique stigma. The fruit is a woody dark brown follicle, 3.5-4.0 cm wide and 1 cm long, made up by two

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...

s, thin pedicellate, like a peduncle downwards, upwards prolonged at the style, it has many imbricate seeds, winged and truncated at the tip, 1.5 cm wide and 0.5 mm.

Taxonomy

Antonio José Cavanilles Antonio José Cavanilles (16 January 1745 – 5 May 1804) was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist of the 18th century. He named many plants, particularly from Oceania. He named at least 100 genera, about 54 of which were still used in 2004 ...

described the species. The genus name ''Lomatia'' comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''lomas'', because of the seed's edge, and ''ferruginea'' from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, meaning ferrous or rusty, referring to the reddish-brown color in new buds.

Cultivation and uses

The wood is valued for its grain and is much used in carpentry. It is highly valued as an ornamental tree in Chile. It has been planted in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. and in 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 ...

, where it regularly self-seeds

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q6669183 ferruginea Flora of Argentina Flora of Chile Ecology of Patagonia Trees of southern South America Trees of mild maritime climate Garden plants of South America Ornamental trees Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles