''Persea lingue'' is an evergreen tree or shrub in the laurel family ( Lauraceae), found in

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 ...

. It belongs to the genus ''Persea'', a group of evergreen trees including the avocado. ''P. lingue'' was historically used in leather production, and is currently threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Distribution

Native to the Central Valley in

and adjacent parts of Argentina.

Use

In pharmacy its bark was once mentioned as ''cortex Lauri lingue'', medicinal action unknown. In the late 19th and early 20th century the bark of the tree which is rich in

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...

s was used to produce leather. An industry based in

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...

and led by German immigrants and

German-Chilean German Chileans ( es, germanochilenos; german: Deutsch-Chilenen) are Chileans descended from German immigrants, about 30,000 of whom arrived in Chile between 1846 and 1914. Most of these were from Bavaria, Baden and the Rhineland, and also from ...

s harvested the tree and exported the leather to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. A decline of wild stands ''Persea lingue'' and tariffs imposed by the German Empire in 1898 contributed in the decline of the leather industry of southern Chile.

Etymology

''Persea'' see Persea. ''Lingue'' from Lingue River in

, where it grows.

References

lingue Flora of central Chile Near threatened plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Laurales-stub