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Scientific name: Prumnopitys andina (Poeppig ex Endlicher) de Laubenfels 1978
Synonyms: Nageia andina (Poepp. ex Endl.) F.Muell., Nageia valdiviana (J.Nelson) Kuntze, Podocarpus andinus Poepp. ex Endl., Podocarpus spicatus Poepp., Podocarpus valdivianus J.Nelson, Prumnopitys elegans Phil., Prumnopitys spicata Molloy & Muñoz-Schick, Stachycarpus andinus (Poepp. ex Endl.) Tiegh.
Common names: Chilean plum yew, Lleuque, Uva de cordillera (Spanish)
Description
Bushy tree to 7(-15) m tall (to more than 21 m in cultivation), with a commonly forked, often crooked trunk to 0.5(-1) m in diameter. Bark thin, smooth, dark brown at first, weathering bright gray with reddish and bluish highlights. Crown dense, conical at first, becoming more rounded and irregular with age, with numerous short, horizontal to upwardly angled branches bearing richly branched, alternating, or slightly offset, predominantly horizontal branchlets densely clothed with foliage. Leaves lasting 2-3 years, extending out to the sides of the twigs in two even to ragged rows, angled slightly forward and usually curving gently outward, (10-)15-25 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide. Blades widest near or below the middle, tapering very gradually to the roundly triangular, pointed but not prickly tip and to the rounded base on a very short, slender petiole. Midrib essentially flat on the rich green upper surface, which has no stomates, and raised beneath between waxy bluish green stomatal bands. Internal strengthening fibers and sclereids absent, the leaves thus drying flat. Pollen cones 5-8 mm long, 2.5-3 mm thick, in groups of 10-20, each attached singly along an axillary reproductive shoot 1-2.5 cm long, with leafy bracts 2-3.5 mm long. Seed cone axis 2-3 cm long, leafy at the base and with five to seven fertile bracts above, from which one to three (to five) seeds mature. The combined seed coat and epimatium passing through yellowish green and bluish to deep reddish purple at maturity, (1-)1.5-2(-2.5) cm long, 10-15 mm thick with a flattened, conical beak 2-3 mm long.
In a relatively small area of the southern Andes(hence the scientific name) and coastal range in central Chile (Maule region to northern Aisén) and just over the border in the Rio Aluminé valley of the lake district of Argentina (Neuquén province). Growing sparsely or rarely in small groves in mixed stands with Chilean cedar (Austrocedrus chilensis) and various broad-leaved trees, including southern beeches (Nothofagus); 500-1,100 m.
Conservation Status
Red List Category & Criteria: Vulnerable
The actual area of occupancy is estimated to be about 36 km². There are eight locations and eight subpopulations. Each subpopulation contains between 20 and 2,000 mature individuals (the majority have less than 200) and each subpopulation is at least 50 km apart. Despite their physical separation, the majority are not considered to be severely fragmented under the IUCN Red List definition. Several subpopulations show a continuing decline in quality of habitat as a result of over grazing, fires and the conversion of forests to exotic plantations. In many subpopulations regeneration is poor and there is also a decline in the number of mature individuals in some subpopulations. Although the total population of mature individuals is estimated to be less than 10,000 at least two subpopulations have more than 2,000 mature individuals. No attempt has been made to predict the extent of any future decline or to quantify the extent of past decline. This species is therefore listed as Vulnerable under the B2 criterion.
There are approximately eight subpopulations, most of which are in the Andes. Two subpopulations have ca. 2,000 mature trees; one with ca. 1,000 mature trees, the rest with between 20-300 mature individuals. The population is declining.
In the Chilean Andes it is restricted to the bottom of valleys close to large rivers where it is often associated with Austrocedrus chilensis, Cryptocarya alba, Quillaja saponaria and other trees and shrubs which form part of the sclerophyllous vegetation. In the Coastal Cordillera it is associated with a remnant forest that was once dominated by Nothofagus dombeyi and Nothofagus nervosa (Hechenleitner et al. 2005). It is a dioecious species and the embryos at 'fruit-fall' are immature and need a period of after-development which may take up to four years (Gosling et al. 2005).
Prumnopitys andina is threatened by a lack of regeneration in a number of subpopulations due to livestock eating the fleshy cones; this is further exacerbated by the delayed germination of this species at 'fruit-fall' . Grazing of seedlings and small plants is also a problem. In the Alto Biobío one subpopulation has been severely reduced by the damming of the Río Biobío for a hydroelectric scheme. Afforestation with exotic pines in the only location in the Coastal Cordillera has in the last 15 years reduced the subpopulation by 50% to an area of less than 500 m² (Hechenleitner et al. 2005): this subpopulation is also suffering from livestock grazing. Volcanic activity and lava flows in Parque National Conguillo has fragmented the subpopulation: Volcan Llaima remains one of Chile's most active volcanoes.
Although the wood is of value and was traditionally used for house building, there is little evidence that the wood is widely used today. The succulent tissue around the seeds is sweet and the fruits are harvested for consumption by local people. The species may well have medicinal properties as the bark has been detected to have anti-fungal properties.
Prumnopitys andina occurs in only three protected areas (Parque Nacional Conguillío, P.N. Tolhuaca and Reserva Nacional Ňuble) which represents a small proportion of the total population. Recent molecular research (C. Martínez unpubl. data 2010) concluded that while there are low levels of differentiation between the subpopulations, significant levels of genetic diversity are found in the most northerly subpopulations in the Maule valley. This potentially important genetic refuge for this species suggests it has in the past experienced some degree of isolation. The International Conifer Conservation Programme (ICCP) has collected seed from most subpopulations and established an ex situ network of sites in Britain and Ireland (including conservation hedges) comprising ca. 600 genotypes.
References
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