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''Espeletia'', commonly known as 'frailejones' ("big monks"), is a 
The plants live at high altitude in páramo ecosystems. The trunk is thick, with succulent hairy leaves disposed in a dense spiral pattern. Marcescent leaves help protect the plants from cold. The flowers are usually yellow, similar to daisies. Some members of the genus exhibit a caulirosulate growth habit.
The frailejón plant is endangered due to destruction of the páramo for agricultural purposes, especially 
Biogeography shaped the metabolome of the genus ''Espeletia'': a phytochemical perspective on an Andean adaptive radiation
''Scientific Reports'': volume 7, Article number: 8835
pdf
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 perennial subshrubs, in the family Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...
. The genus, which is native mainly to Colombia, Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
and Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
, was first formally described in 1808. The genus was named after the viceroy of New Granada, José Manuel de Ezpeleta.
The plants live at high altitude in páramo ecosystems. The trunk is thick, with succulent hairy leaves disposed in a dense spiral pattern. Marcescent leaves help protect the plants from cold. The flowers are usually yellow, similar to daisies. Some members of the genus exhibit a caulirosulate growth habit.
The frailejón plant is endangered due to destruction of the páramo for agricultural purposes, especially potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
crops. This activity continues, despite the Colombian government declaring it illegal. Since about 2010 the plants have also come under attack by beetle larvae, a moth and a fungus, some new to science but suspected to be related to climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
which allows lower-altitude species to flourish.
''Espeletia'' is well known for contributing to the world in water sustainability by capturing water vapor from passing clouds in its spongy trunk and releasing it through the roots into the soil, thus helping to create vast high-altitude subterranean water deposits and lakes that will eventually form rivers.
Species
Species accepted by the Plants of the World Online as of December 2022: ref name=POWO>References
Further reading
*Padilla-González, G.F., Diazgranados, M., Da Costa, F.B.(2017Biogeography shaped the metabolome of the genus ''Espeletia'': a phytochemical perspective on an Andean adaptive radiation
''Scientific Reports'': volume 7, Article number: 8835
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q290488 Asteraceae genera Millerieae Flora of South America Páramo flora Taxa named by Aimé Bonpland Taxa named by Alexander von Humboldt