''Fitzroya'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

in the

cypress family Cupressaceae or the cypress family is a family of conifers. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or (rarely) dioecio ...

. The single living

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, ''Fitzroya cupressoides'', is a tall, long-lived

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

native to the Andes mountains and coastal regions of southern Chile, and only to the Argentine Andes, where it is an important member of the

Valdivian temperate forests The Valdivian temperate forests (NT0404) is an ecoregion on the west coast of southern South America, in Chile and Argentina. It is part of the Neotropical realm. The forests are named after the city of Valdivia. The Valdivian temperate rainfores ...

. Common names include ''lawal'' (in

Mapudungun Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the s ...

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

ized as ''lahual''), ''alerce'' (, "

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...

" in Spanish), and Patagonian cypress. The genus was named in honour of

Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of ...

. The genus is ancient with it dating back to the Cretaceous of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. Fossils are also known from the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(particularly from the now extinct ''Fitzroya tasmanensis'').

Description

''Fitzroya cupressoides'' is the largest tree species in South America, normally growing to 40–60 m (130–200 ft) but occasionally more than 70 m (230 ft), and up to 5 m (16 ft) in

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure, and the stem of woody plants * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Comput ...

diameter. Its rough pyramidal canopy provides cover for the

southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

, laurel and myrtle. The largest known living specimen is

Alerce Milenario Alerce Milenario () or Gran Abuelo, also known in English as Great-Grandfather, is the largest tree in Chile's Alerce Costero National Park. While it has been on the list of oldest trees, this Alerce tree (''Fitzroya cupressoides)'' is now riva ...

Alerce Costero National Park Alerce Costero National Park (, ) is a protected wild area in the Cordillera Pelada about from Valdivia and from La Unión. '' Fitzroya'' trees grow inside the protected area and give the area its name, with ''Alerce Costero'' translating as ...

, Chile. It is more than 60 m (200ft) tall, with a trunk diameter of 4.26 m (14.2 ft). Much larger specimens existed before the species was heavily logged in the 19th and 20th centuries;

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

reported finding a specimen of 12.6m circumference (some 4.01m in diameter). The leaves are in

decussate Decussation is used in biological contexts to describe a crossing (due to the shape of the Roman numeral for ten, an uppercase 'X' (), ). In Latin anatomical terms, the form is used, e.g. . Similarly, the anatomical term chiasma is named aft ...

whorls of three, 3–6 mm long (to 8 mm long on

seedling A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...

s) and 2 mm broad, marked with two white

stoma In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek language, Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the Epidermis (botany), epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exc ...

tal lines. This is a

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

species, with male and female cones on separate trees. The

cones In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the ''apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, ...

are globose, 6–8 mm in diameter, opening flat to 12 mm across, with nine scales in three whorls of three. Only the central whorl of scales is fertile, bearing 2–3

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s on each scale; the lower and upper whorls are small and sterile. The seeds are 2–3 mm long and flat, with a wing along each side. The seeds mature 6–8 months after

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...

. The thick bark of ''F. cupressoides'' may be an adaptation to wildfire. In 1993 a specimen from Chile, "Gran Abuelo" or "Alerce Milenario", was found to be 3622 years old, making it the second oldest fully verified (by counting

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

) age for any living tree species, after the

bristlecone pine The term bristlecone pine covers three species of pine tree (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus'', subsection ''Balfourianae''). All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils. One of the three species, ''Pinus ...

. More recent research proposed that this individual corresponds to the oldest tree in the world. A team of researchers from the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

found

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

ized foliage of a ''Fitzroya'' species on the

Lea River The River Lea is a steep continuous river located in the north-western region of Tasmania, Australia. The river has an average gradient of and a peak grade of that flows from Lake Lea to Lake Gairdner (Tasmania), Lake Gairdner. The river fl ...

of northwest

. The 35-million-year-old (Oligocene) fossil was named '' F. tasmanensis''. The finding demonstrates the ancient

floristic {{Short pages monitor ''Did you mean: "Floristics Floristics is the study of plants of geographical regions. It is a branch of phytogeography, which technically makes it a branch of botany, geography, and a subbranch of biogeography. Harvard Un ...

affinities between

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

and southern South America, which botanists identify as the

Antarctic flora Antarctic flora are a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana. In 2025, species of Antarctica flora reside on several now separated areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including ...

. About 40 to 50 thousand years ago, during the

interstadial Stadials and interstadials are phases dividing the Quaternary period, or the last 2.6 million years. Stadials are periods of colder climate, and interstadials are periods of warmer climate. Each Quaternary climate phase has been assigned with a ...

s of the

Llanquihue glaciation The last glacial period and its associated glaciation is known in southern Chile as the Llanquihue glaciation (). Its type area lies west of Llanquihue Lake where various drifts or end moraine systems belonging to the last glacial period have ...

, ''Fitzroya'' and other conifers had a much larger and continuous geographical extent than at present including the eastern lowlands of

Chiloé Island Chiloé Island (, , ), also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern Chile, in the Los L ...

and the area west of

Llanquihue Lake Llanquihue Lake is the second-largest lake in Chile with an area of about , after Lake General Carrera which is shared with Argentina. It is situated in the southern Los Lagos Region in the Llanquihue and Osorno provinces. The lake's fan-like ...

. At present ''Fitzroya'' grow mainly at some altitude above sea level. ''Fitzroya'' stands near sea level are most likely

relicts A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

. Alerce milenario.jpg, A large tree showing the bark peeling in longitudinal strips. Fitzroya cupressoides - branch - 01.JPG, A branchlet with adult leaves. File:Fitzroya cupressoides seedling.jpg, A first-year seedling with juvenile leaves. Fitzroya.conesandfoliage.jpg, Mature seed cones with open scales.

History

''Fitzroya cupressoides'' wood has been found in the site of

Monte Verde Monte Verde is a Paleolithic archaeological site in the Llanquihue Province in southern Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Los Lagos Region. The site is primarily known for Monte Verde II, dating to approximately 14,550–14,500 calibrated years ...

, implying that it has been used since at least 13,000 years

before present Before Present (BP) or "years before present (YBP)" is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Because ...

. The

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

are known to have used the wood for making tools and weapons. Its high durability despite its light weight is ideal for

roof shingle A roof’s shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat, rectangular shapes laid in courses from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive course overlapping the joint ...

s which can last longer than ordinary zinc counterparts. By the time of the Spanish conquest of

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago (, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and the Gulf of Corcovado in the s ...

in 1567 most of the islands were covered by dense forest where ''F. cupressoides'' grew. The wood was economically important in colonial Chiloé and

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 ...

, which exported

planks A plank is timber that is flat, elongated, and rectangular with parallel faces that are higher and longer than wide. Used primarily in carpentry, planks are critical in the construction of ships, houses, bridges, and many other structures. Plank ...

to Peru.Villalobos ''et al''. 1974, p. 225. A single tree could yield 600 planks with a width of at least 0.5 m and a length of 5 m. The wood was highly valued in Chile and Peru for its elasticity and lightness. With the destruction of Valdivia in 1599 Chiloé gained increased importance as the only locale that could supply the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

with ''F. cupressoides'' wood, the first large shipment of which left Chiloé in 1641. ''Fitzroya cupressoides'' wood was the principal means of exchange in the trade with Peru, and even came to be used as a local currency, the

real de alerce Real de alerce or real de madera (Spanish for " real of Fitzroya" and "real of wood") was a local currency consisting in Fitzroya wood that was used during colonial times in Chiloé Archipelago. It was the Jesuits, established in Chiloé since the ...

, in Chiloé Archipelago. It has been argued that the Spanish exclave of Chiloé prevailed over other Spanish settlements in Southern Chile due to the importance of alerce trade.Otero 2006, p. 73. Alercecosterovista

From about 1750 to 1943, when the land between

Maullín River Maullín River () is a river of Chile located in the Los Lagos Region. The river originates as the outflow of Llanquihue Lake, and flows generally southwestward, over a number of small waterfalls, emptying into the Gulf of Coronados.Image Science ...

and

was colonized by Spain and then Chile, numerous fires of ''Fitzroya'' woods occurred in

Cordillera Pelada Cordillera Pelada (Spanish for Bald Range or Barren Range) is a mountain range in southern Los Ríos Region, southern Chile. It is located along the Pacific coast and forms part of the larger Chilean Coast Range. It got its name ''pelada'' from th ...

. These fires were initiated by Spaniards, Chileans and Europeans. Earlier, from 1397 to 1750 the ''Fitzroya'' woods of Cordillera Pelada also suffered from fires that originated from lightning strikes and indigenous inhabitants. In the 1850s and 1860s

Vicente Pérez Rosales Vicente Pérez Rosales (; 5 April 1807 – 6 September 1886) was a politician, traveller, merchant, miner and Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world ...

burned down huge tracts of forested lands to provide cleared lands for German settlers in Southern Chile.Villalobos ''et al''. 1974, p. 457. The area affected by the fires of Pérez Rosales spanned a strip in the Andean foothills from

Bueno River The Bueno River (Spanish: ''Río Bueno'') is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms t ...

Reloncaví Sound Reloncaví Sound or ''Seno de Reloncaví'' is a body of water immediately south of Puerto Montt, a port city in the Los Lagos Region of Chile. It is the place where the Chilean Central Valley meets the Pacific Ocean. The Calbuco Archipelago comp ...

. One of the most famous intentional fires was that of the ''Fitzroya'' forests between

Puerto Varas Puerto Varas, also known as "La Ciudad De Las Rosas" or “The City Of Roses”, is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune located in the southern Chilean province of Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, in the Los Lagos Region ...

and

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

in 1863.Otero 2006, p. 86. This burning was done taking advantage of a drought in 1863. Burnings of forest were in many cases necessary for the survival of the settlers who had no means of subsistence other than agriculture. Logging of ''Fitzroya'' continued until 1976 when it became forbidden by law, (with the exception of already dead trees and with the authorization of CONAF, a National Corporation) although illegal logging still occasionally occurs.

References

Bibliography

*Otero, Luis (2006). ''La huella del fuego: Historia de los bosques nativos. Poblamiento y cambios en el paisaje del sur de Chile''. Pehuén Editores. . * *T.T. Veblen, B.R. Burns, T. Kitzberger, A. Lara and R. Villalba (1995) The ecology of the conifers of southern South America. Pages 120-155 in: N. Enright and R. Hill (eds.), Ecology of the Southern Conifers. Melbourne University Press.

External links

''Fitzroya cupressoides'' in Chilebosque
(Spanish)

(Spanish)
Conifers Around the World: Fitzroya cupressoides – Alerceents-bbs.org / Tall trees in Chile and Argentina?ents-bbs.org / Chile Trip Part 3: Parque Nacional Alerce Andino
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q12981821, from2=Q847304 Cupressaceae Monotypic conifer genera Flora of the Andes Trees of Argentina Trees of Chile Flora of central Chile Endangered flora of South America Dioecious plants Flora of the Valdivian temperate forests Species that are or were threatened by logging for timber

Description

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links