Crinodendron Hookerianum
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''Crinodendron hookerianum'', known as the Chilean lantern tree, is an
evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
tree in the family
Elaeocarpaceae Elaeocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera."Elaeocarpaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol. VI. Springer-Verlag: Ber ...
. It is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
to
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, where it occurs from Cautin to Palena (38 to 43°S). It grows near
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
s and in very humid and shady places, and is often found in Valdivian temperate forests.


Derivation of scientific name

The Latin generic name ''Crinodendron'' is a compound of the Ancient Greek words κρίνον (krínon) "lily" and δένδρον (dendrón) "tree", the "lily" element being inspired by the white-flowered '' C. patagua''. The specific name ''hookerianum'' honours
William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botany, botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew Gardens, Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botan ...
, an English botanist who studied many Chilean plants. The genus ''Crinodendron'' is a small one, containing only four species, the other two (not generally cultivated in the United Kingdom) being '' C. tucumanum'' Lillo, a 25m tree native to
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, and the
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian '' C. brasiliense'' Reitz & L.B.sm.


Common names in Chile

The plant has several names, derived from the native language of the
Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...
people and colonial Spanish, the most common of which is chaquihue (pronounced 'chaki-way'). Others include the variant forms and chaquehua, polizón (Spanish : 'vagrant', 'stowaway'), polisones, copío, coicopío and patagua roja (- Spanish : "red patagua" - patagua being the vernacular name 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 ...
for the white-flowered '' Crinodendron patagua'' - also endemic to Chile).


Description

''Crinodendron hookerianum'' is a shrub or small tree with ash-grey bark reaching up to in height and having a trunk up to in diameter. Leaves alternate, lanceolate with toothed edges and acute
apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...
, petiolate, 4–7 cm long and 0.7-1.8 cm wide, dark green above and hairy whitish green below. Flowers
hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...
, solitary and axillary, pinkish to red. The pedicels circa 3–6 cm long, the calyx formed of 5 fused, green
sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...
s, corolla campanulate, composed of 5 free
petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...
s terminating in 3 teeth,
stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...
s 15-18, the style longer than the stamen. Fruit a white, pubescent, leathery capsule with 3 to 5 valves. Seeds ovoid, glossy.


Toxicity and medicinal uses

The plant is somewhat poisonous, its toxicity referable to its containing cucurbitacins, a class of cytotoxic triterpenoids named for their frequent occurrence in genera of the cucumber and gourd family
Cucurbitaceae The Cucurbitaceae (), also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family (biology), family consisting of about 965 species in 101 genera.
, such as '' Bryonia''. Contact with the sap of plants containing high levels of cucurbitacins can lead to skin inflammation and blistering, while consumption of plant material containing such compounds can lead to gastrointestinal irritation with
vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pre ...
and bloody
diarrhoea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...
,
tachycardia Tachycardia, also called tachyarrhythmia, is a heart rate that exceeds the normal resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted as tachycardia in adults. Heart rates above the resting rate may be normal ...
and damage to the
liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...
(
hepatotoxicity Hepatotoxicity (from ''hepatic toxicity'') implies chemical-driven liver damage. Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a cause of acute and chronic liver disease caused specifically by medications and the most common reason for a drug to be withdr ...
) and
kidneys In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and right in the retro ...
(among other symptoms), the poisoning sometimes proving fatal. ''C. hookerianum'' is used in the folk medicine of Chile as an emmenagogue and
abortifacient An abortifacient ("that which will cause a miscarriage" from Latin: '' abortus'' "miscarriage" and '' faciens'' "making") is a substance that induces abortion. This is a nonspecific term which may refer to any number of substances or medications, ...
and the leaves and bark are considered to have
emetic Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, preg ...
properties. Although toxic, the shrub is also regarded as "balsamic" a rather vague designation referable to its medicinal value and aromatic constituents (- although see also balsam).


Cultivation

''Crinodendron hookerianum'' was introduced into cultivation in the U.K. by Cornish plant collector William Lobb for
Veitch Nurseries The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into ...
of
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
in 1848. Its flowers make it a highly valued ornamental shrub or small tree, and it has gained the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
's
Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...
. It attains maximum dimensions in cultivation approximately 8m in height by 5m in spread. ''Crinodendron hookerianum'' is best grown in fertile, moist but well-drained, humus-rich, acid soil in partial shade (in full sun only if the roots can be kept cool and shaded) in a sheltered
woodland garden A woodland garden is a garden or section of a garden that includes large trees and is laid out so as to appear as more or less natural woodland, though it is often actually an artificial creation. Typically it includes plantings of flowering shrub ...
or against a south- or west-facing wall where it is sheltered from cold, drying winds. It is hardy to -7 °C, but young growth and flower buds are susceptible to damage by hard frosts - the latter because the small flower buds are formed in autumn, ripening during winter and spring to flower in the following summer. It has been planted as far north as
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
- and thrives in those areas of the western Scotland that are warmed by the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
- as at the Benmore Botanic Garden. In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, it thrives best in the generally mild climates of
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, and
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, and in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in the similarly mild climate of counties Cork and Kerry, as at the garden on Garnish Island.http://www.deborahsgardeningtour.com/ilnacullin/ Retrieved 8.20pm 7/6/17 It can also be grown in a cool greenhouse or conservatory, under which conditions it will flower earlier. Although the only pruning generally required in colder areas is the removal of dead wood in late spring, in milder areas in a light woodland environment it can even be clipped to make a wind-break. Vegetative propagation is by greenwood cuttings in early summer or semi-ripe-wood cuttings in late summer. With regard to pests and diseases the plant is generally trouble-free.


References


External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q31452 Elaeocarpaceae Endemic flora of Chile Trees of Chile Ornamental trees Trees of mild maritime climate