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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Fitzroya''
| status = EN
| status_system = iucn2.3
| image = Fitzroya_cupressoides.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption =
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Pinophyta]]
| classis = [[Pinophyta|Pinopsida]]
| ordo = [[Pinales]]
| familia = [[Cupressaceae]]
| genus = '''''Fitzroya'''''
| species = '''''F. cupressoides'''''
| binomial = ''Fitzroya cupressoides''
| binomial_authority = [[I. M. Johnston|I.M.Johnst.]]<!--per [http://www.ipni.org/index.html]-->
}}
'''''Fitzroya''''' is a [[genus]] in the cypress family [[Cupressaceae]] with a single [[species]], '''''Fitzroya cupressoides''''' native to the [[Andes]] mountains of southern [[Chile]] and adjoining [[Argentina]], where it is an important member of the [[Valdivian temperate rain forests]]. The scientific name of the genus honours [[Robert FitzRoy]]; common names include '''Lahuan''' (the [[Mapuche]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] name), '''Alerce''' (South American Spanish), and '''Patagonian Cypress'''.
It is a very large [[evergreen]] [[tree]], the largest tree species in South America, growing to 40-60 m tall and up to 5 m trunk diameter. The [[leaf|leaves]] are in decussate whorls of three, 3-6 mm long (to 8 mm long on seedlings) and 2 mm broad, marked with two white [[stomata]]l lines. The [[conifer cone|cones]] are globose, 6-8 mm 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]]s on each scale; the lower and upper whorls are small and sterile. The seeds are 2-3 mm long, flat, with a wing along each side. The seeds are mature 6-8 months after pollination.
In [[1993]] a specimen from Chile was dated as 3622 years old. This gives it the second-greatest fully verified age recorded for any living tree (the oldest being the [[Great Basin Bristlecone Pine]]). Much larger specimens existed in the past before the species was heavily [[Deforestation|logged]] in the 19th and 20th centuries; [[Charles Darwin]] reported finding a specimen 12.6 m in diameter, which, if accurately measured, would have made it the stoutest tree ever measured anywhere in the world.
A team of researchers from the [[University of Tasmania]] found [[fossil]]ized foliage of ''Fitzroya'' on the [[Lea River]] of northwest [[Tasmania]]. The 35 million year-old fossil has been given the species name ''Fitzroya tasmanensis''. The finding demonstrates the ancient floristic affinities between [[Australasia ecozone|Australasia]] and southern South America, which botanists identify as the [[Antarctic flora]].
In the colonial [[Chiloé Island|Chiloé]] the ''Fitzroya'' wood was very valued and roof shingles of ''Fitzroya'' were used as money and were called "[[Spanish real|Real]] de Alerce".
[[Image:Fitzroya_cupressoides_distribution_map.jpg|thumb|Distribution Map of Fitzroya cupressoides in Central Chile]]
==References==
* {{IUCN2006|assessors=Conifer Specialist Group|year=2000|id=30926|title=Fitzroya cupressoides|downloaded=09 May 2006}} Listed as Endangered (EN A1cd+2cd v2.3)
* Hill, R. S. and Whang, S. S. 1996. A new species of ''Fitzroya'' (Cupressaceae) from Oligocene sediments in north-western Tasmania. ''Australian Systematic Botany'' 9(6): 867-875.
==External links==
*[http://www.florachilena.cl/Niv_tax/Gimnospermas/Cupressaceae/Fitzroya/Fitzroya.htm ''Fitzroya cupressoides'' in Encyclopedia of the Chilean Flora]
*[http://www.conifers.org/cu/fi/ Gymnosperm Database - ''Fitzroya cupressoides'']
*[http://www.chilebosque.cl/tree/fcupr.html ''Fitzroya cupressoides'' in Chilebosque]
[[Category:Cupressaceae]]
[[Category:Trees of Argentina]]
[[Category:Trees of Chile]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Fitzroya''
| status = EN
| status_system = iucn2.3
| image = Fitzroya_cupressoides.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption =
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Pinophyta]]
| classis = [[Pinophyta|Pinopsida]]
| ordo = [[Pinales]]
| familia = [[Cupressaceae]]
| genus = '''''Fitzroya'''''
| species = '''''F. cupressoides'''''
| binomial = ''Fitzroya cupressoides''
| binomial_authority = [[I. M. Johnston|I.M.Johnst.]]<!--per [http://www.ipni.org/index.html]-->
}}
'''''Fitzroya''''' is a [[genus]] in the cypress family [[Cupressaceae]] with a single [[species]], '''''Fitzroya cupressoides''''' native to the [[Andes]] mountains of southern [[Chile]] and adjoining [[Argentina]], where it is an important member of the [[Valdivian temperate rain forests]]. The scientific name of the genus honours [[Robert FitzRoy]]; common names include '''Lahuan''' (the [[Mapuche]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] name), '''Alerce''' (South American Spanish), and '''Patagonian Cypress'''.
It is a very large [[evergreen]] [[tree]], the largest tree species in South America, growing to 40-60 m tall and up to 5 m trunk diameter. The [[leaf|leaves]] are in decussate whorls of three, 3-6 mm long (to 8 mm long on seedlings) and 2 mm broad, marked with two white [[stomata]]l lines. The [[conifer cone|cones]] are globose, 6-8 mm 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]]s on each scale; the lower and upper whorls are small and sterile. The seeds are 2-3 mm long, flat, with a wing along each side. The seeds are mature 6-8 months after pollination.
In [[1993]] a specimen from Chile was dated as 3622 years old. This gives it the second-greatest fully verified age recorded for any living tree (the oldest being the [[Great Basin Bristlecone Pine]]). Much larger specimens existed in the past before the species was heavily [[Deforestation|logged]] in the 19th and 20th centuries; [[Charles Darwin]] reported finding a specimen 12.6 m in diameter, which, if accurately measured, would have made it the stoutest tree ever measured anywhere in the world.
A team of researchers from the [[University of Tasmania]] found [[fossil]]ized foliage of ''Fitzroya'' on the [[Lea River]] of northwest [[Tasmania]]. The 35 million year-old fossil has been given the species name ''Fitzroya tasmanensis''. The finding demonstrates the ancient floristic affinities between [[Australasia ecozone|Australasia]] and southern South America, which botanists identify as the [[Antarctic flora]].
In the colonial [[Chiloé Island|Chiloé]] the ''Fitzroya'' wood was very valued and roof shingles of ''Fitzroya'' were used as money and were called "[[Spanish real|Real]] de Alerce".
[[Image:Fitzroya_cupressoides_distribution_map.jpg|thumb|Distribution Map of Fitzroya cupressoides in Central Chile]]
==References==
* {{IUCN2006|assessors=Conifer Specialist Group|year=2000|id=30926|title=Fitzroya cupressoides|downloaded=09 May 2006}} Listed as Endangered (EN A1cd+2cd v2.3)
* Hill, R. S. and Whang, S. S. 1996. A new species of ''Fitzroya'' (Cupressaceae) from Oligocene sediments in north-western Tasmania. ''Australian Systematic Botany'' 9(6): 867-875.
==External links==
*[http://www.florachilena.cl/Niv_tax/Gimnospermas/Cupressaceae/Fitzroya/Fitzroya.htm ''Fitzroya cupressoides'' in Encyclopedia of the Chilean Flora]
*[http://www.conifers.org/cu/fi/ Gymnosperm Database - ''Fitzroya cupressoides'']
*[http://www.chilebosque.cl/tree/fcupr.html ''Fitzroya cupressoides'' in Chilebosque]
[[Category:Cupressaceae]]
[[Category:Trees of Argentina]]
[[Category:Trees of Chile]]