''Laurelia sempervirens'' is a species of

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 Atherospermataceae (formerly

Monimiaceae The Monimiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the magnoliid order Laurales.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Monimiaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Botanical Databases At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links' ...

). Common names include Peruvian nutmeg, tihue or trihue (from the

Mapuche language Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

), and Chilean laurel or Chilean sassafras. It is

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 else ...

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 ...

, occurring at 34–41° south latitude. It requires a warm subtropical to tropical climate that is cool but also frost-free or with only very slight winter frosts not below , with high summer heat, rainfall and humidity. It grows best on well-drained, slightly acidic

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

s rich in organic matter. This is typical laurel forest habitat. However, the southern hemisphere genus '' Laurelia'' is not closely related to the laurels ( Lauraceae), despite the similarity. The tree is known as ''triwe'' in

Huilliche The Huilliche , Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group of Chile. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco subgroup, the north hal ...

and ''laurel'' in Spanish. It is the ritual tree of the

Huilliche people The Huilliche , Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group of Chile. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco subgroup, the north hal ...

Futahuillimapu Futahuillimapu or Fütawillimapu is a traditional territory of the Huilliche people. Futahuillimapu spans the land between Bueno River and Reloncaví Sound. Futahuillimapu means "great land of the south." Back in the 18th century when this territ ...

Description

The tihue is a large (up to tall and in diameter) evergreen tree with smooth, pale yellow bark. The bark cracks when ageing, coming off in roughly circular plates. The wood and the leaves are strongly aromatic. The bright green leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, and are oblong in shape, narrowed at the base. The leaves are leathery, shiny, long and wide. The serrated edges of the leaves help to distinguish this tree from the closely related '' Laureliopsis philippiana'', which has more deeply toothed leaf margins. The tihue bears bundles of small yellow unisexual flowers, both male and female on every tree (monoecious). The fruit is a greenish achene with seeds bearing feathery anemophilous filaments. The seed is dispersed by the wind (

anemochory In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors ...

Cultivation and uses

Its

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

is pale yellow in colour, with a fine and homogeneous texture: the

growth rings Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

are not conspicuous. The tree is 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 ...

. It has been introduced into

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and into

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and planted in Sussex in the UK. The leaves of ''Laurelia sempervirens'' were used by

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

Amerindians for treating headache and as a diuretic.

References

''Laurelia sempervirens'' in Encyclopedia of Chilean Flora
* ttp://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Laurelia+sempervirens Plants for a future database: ''Laurelia sempervirens''. - British commentary on this tree.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1002397 Atherospermataceae Endemic flora of Chile Flora of central Chile Trees of Chile Near threatened plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot