''Fabiana imbricata'', vernacular names pichi, palo piche, or false heath, is a

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), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Solanaceae Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

''. It is

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to dry upland slopes in the foothills of the southern Andes of Chile and Argentina. Growing to tall and wide, it is a frost-hardy, heath-like

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 ...

mound-forming

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

. It has needle-like leaves and small white, tubular flowers in early summer. The upright

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form may also refer to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter dat ...

''F. imbricata'' f. ''violacea'', of horticultural origin, bears masses of pale violet flowers. 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 ...

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 ...

Description

''F. imbricata'' is a long-lived shrub distributed via seeds, and broadly distributed within South America. It requires fire and wind, followed by post-fire high precipitation in the early spring. It is a keystone species within its ecosystems, reducing species richness while simultaneously increasing fuel load during grassland colonization events, altering the structure of the surrounding ecosystem.

Uses

''F. imbricata'' foliage has traditionally been employed as a

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics ...

and digestive, and has been proven to have a dose-dependent gastroprotective effect, in studies evaluating the main

sesquiterpene Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and often have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be cyclic or contain rings, including many combinations. Biochemical modifications s ...

of the foliage. Interest in ''F. imbricata'' has extended into the development of

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...

culturing of the plant’s tissue for the harvesting of secondary

metabolite In biochemistry, a metabolite is an intermediate or end product of metabolism. The term is usually used for small molecules. Metabolites have various functions, including fuel, structure, signaling, stimulatory and inhibitory effects on enzymes, c ...

s for further research.

Taxonomy

''Fabiana imbricata'' is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

for the genus ''Fabiana''. An analysis of the nightshade family Solanaceae (including 89 genera and 190 species) pinpointed the relationships of the genus ''Fabiana'' to other genera within the family. This analysis established through the study of

chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle, organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant cell, plant and algae, algal cells. Chloroplasts have a high concentration of chlorophyll pigments which captur ...

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

that ''Fabiana'' is a sister

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

with the genus '' Calibrachoa'' and that these two genera are sisters to ''

Petunia ''Petunia'' is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word , 'tobacco', from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial plan ...

''. This group together belong to

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Petunieae, within subfamily Petunioideae of the family Solanaceae. This analysis examined one species in each of these three genera. These data are in agreement with a karyotypic analysis that examined 41 populations of 5 genera (21 species) within the Nicotianeae tribe of Solanaceae (later reorganized by into several new groups, including the supergeneric group Petunieae, by Olmstead and Migid el al. 2008). This study found the haploid and monoploid numbers of chromosomes to be 9 for ''F. imbricata'', ''F. densa'', and ''F. denudata'', ''Calibrachoa'' sp., and the ''Petunia'' species examined. They suggest that the ancestral

Solanales The Solanales are an order of flowering plants, included in the asterid group of the eudicots. Well-known members of Solanales include potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, chili peppers, tobacco, petunias, nightshades, morning glory, and sweet potato. ...

had a monoploid number of 7 chromosomes, with the monoploid number of 12 deriving from a genome duplication event followed by

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...

reduction. Within the groups surveyed, this methodology does not give rise to the same phylogenetic tree overall as that of Olmstead and Migid, but for ''Fabiana'' and sister genera, it is in agreement. Current data do not permit the detailed phylogenetic analysis of ''Fabiana'' below the genus level.

Gallery

File:Fabiana imbricata HRM.jpg, Closeup of flowers

References

External links

Plants for a Future entry
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1390368 Petunioideae Flora of Chile Taxa named by José Antonio Pavón Jiménez Taxa named by Hipólito Ruiz López