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''Oreocallis'' is a South American plant genus in the family
Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...
. There is only one species, ''Oreocallis grandiflora'', which is native to mountainous regions in
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
. Previously, the genus was considered to have several species on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, however the four Australasian species were reclassified in the genus '' Alloxylon''. The genus was originally defined by
Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...
in 1810 to contain the Australian species now classified elsewhere, while the two recognised South American species were placed in ''Embothrium'' at the time. A reclassification by Dutch botanist Hermann Otto Sleumer in 1954 saw these species transferred into ''Oreocallis''. A second species ''O. mucronata'', has been reclassified as conspecific with ''O. grandiflora''. Some recent sources recognize both species.2. Oreocallis R. Br.
Ulloa Ulloa, C. & P. M. Jørgensen (2004 and onwards), ''Árboles y arbustos de los Andes del Ecuador''


Etymology

The genus' name is derived from the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
words ''or(e)os'' "mountain", and ''kalli-'' "beauty".


Description

The species is a tree or shrub which reaches heights of about . The leaves, which are arranged in a spiral pattern along the twigs, have a simple, entire blade. As is the case with many species in the Proteaceae, the leaves are highly variable. The shape of the leaves varies from narrow and elongate (lanceolate, or lance shaped) to broad and ellipse-shaped, or anything in between. The base of the leaf can be narrow or broad, and the leaf tip can be pointed or rounded. They usually range from in length, occasionally reaching lengths of , and are wide. Young leaves are often covered with dense, reddish hairs while older leaves tend to have smooth surfaces with hairs concentrated along the main veins on the lower surface of the leaf. Plants have a terminal or lateral conflorescence (a type of
inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
). The inflorescences, which are usually long ;but occasionally as much as , bear flowers that can be white, pink, yellow or red in colour. The tepals (petals and
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) are mostly fused along their length, with only the tips of the tepals unfused. The pollen grains have three pores, a condition that is thought to be primitive in the Proteaceae.


Classification

Together with '' Telopea'', ''Alloxylon'' and ''
Embothrium ''Embothrium'' is a genus of two to eight species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) in the plant family Proteaceae, native to southern South America, in Chile and adjacent western Argentina; the genus occurs as far south as Tierra del Fue ...
'', ''Oreocallis'' makes up a small group of terminal often red-flowering showy plants scattered around the southern edges of the Pacific Rim. Known as the Embothriinae, this is an ancient group with roots in the mid
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
, when
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 ...
,
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
and
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 ...
were linked by land. Almost all these species have red terminal flowers, and hence the subtribe's origin and floral appearance must predate the splitting of
Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...
into Australia, Antarctica, and South America over 60 million years ago. The prominent position and striking colour of many species within the subtribe both in Australia and South America strongly suggest they are adapted to pollination by birds, and have been for over 60 million years. ''Triporopollenites ambiguus'' is an ancient member of the proteaceae known only from pollen deposits, originally described from Eocene deposits in Victoria. The fossil pollen closely resembles that of ''T. truncata'', '' Alloxylon pinnatum'' as well as ''O. grandiflora''. 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 ...
, ''Oreocallis grandiflora'', is a plant with terminal showy red, pink, yellow or whitish inflorescences found in mountainous areas in Peru and southern Ecuador. It was originally described by French naturalist
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...
in 1786 as ''Embothrium grandiflora''. Robert Brown used it as the type species for the genus ''Oreocallis'' when he circumscribed the genus is 1810. As envisioned by Brown, the genus included both South American and Australian species, but in 1991 Peter Weston and Michael Crisp split the Australian species out of ''Oreocallis'' and placed them in a new genus, ''Alloxylon''. In 1954, the Dutch botanist Hermann Sleumer split ''O. grandiflora'' into two species, placing individuals with smooth leaves and twigs and pale, white or pink flowers into a new species, ''O. mucronata'', while leaving those with hairy leaves and twigs and darker red flowers in ''O. grandiflora''. Pennington (2007) rejected Sleumer's split, arguing that the hairiness of the leaves and twigs often varied within individuals, and did not vary consistently with flower colour. Weston and Crisp also suggested that differences in flower colour and the angle at which the mature flowers are held may justify this split. While Pennington acknowledged that differences in these characters exist, he argued that the variation was continuous and not the sort of binary variation that would justify a split into two species. He did acknowledge, however, that this difference may be more apparent in live plants and suggested that further study is needed. In 2016, a study comparing the pollination ecology of ''Oreocallis grandiflora'' at northern and southern ends of its distribution, found evidence of divergence in
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length and flower openness, nectar standing crop and secretion rate, and pollinator community among Ecuadorian and Peruvian populations. Divergences in floral traits may be related to a combination of factors, including
genetic drift Genetic drift, also known as random genetic drift, allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the Allele frequency, frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance. Genetic drift may cause gene va ...
and isolation by distance, distinctive suites of pollinators, or heterospecific pollen competition.


Habitat and ecology

''Oreocallis grandiflora'' is a characteristic species in certain semi-deciduous forests in valleys and evergreen upper montane forest in the Andean forests of southern Ecuador and evergreen sclerophyllous forests in northern Peru. It grows at elevations between above sea level. It tolerates habitat disturbance, and may be expanding its range in response to increased human activity. Apparently, floration is constant throughout the year. Pollinator communities vary with distribution and floral visitation occurs during day and night, albeit nocturnal visitation is reported in southern Ecuador only. During the day, inflorescences are visited by birds, at least 14 hummingbird species including '' Metallura tyrianthina'', '' Aglaeactis cupripennis'' and '' Coeligena iris''. Mammals are the only nocturnal visitors, Phyllostomid bat ''Anoura geoffroyi'', and Andean mouse '' Microryzomys altissimus''; the role of ''M. altissimus'' as actual pollinator is yet to be confirmed, although samples taken from its fur indicate pollen removal.


Uses

The plant is used for firewood, furniture/carpentry; its "pleasantly mottled cream-white, pinkish and pale brown wood" was used for inlay work and borders on chess boards. It also has medicinal uses. The seeds are eaten in southern Ecuador.


References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2711248, from2=Q15548413 Banksieae Proteaceae genera Monotypic Proteaceae genera Trees of Peru Trees of Ecuador Flora of the Andes