Fitzroya cupressoides (Molina)

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Description

Fitzroya: Evergreen, dioecious tree. Branches not whorled, shoots angular, leaves scale-like, in whorls of 3. Female flowers in cone-like inflorescences, composed of 9 scales in whorls of 3, in 3 alternating whorls; the lowest whorl small and sterile; the middle whorl larger and sterile or with a single 2-winged seed to each scale; the upper whorl fertile, each scale bearing 2-6 two- or three-winged seeds. Cones globose, 6-8 mm across, ripening in the first year; fertile scales with a three-sided mucro at the apex. Seeds 2-6 on each fertile scale, ovate, 2(3)-winged. Cotyledons 2. n =11 (Dallimore et al. 1967, Farjon 1998). Fitzroya is tetraploid, a highly unusual condition in conifers, which are almost all diploid (with the exception of hexaploid Sequoia) (Ahuja 2009).

F. cupressoides: Trees to 45 m tall and 300 cm dbh. Bark reddish, furrowed, peeling off in strips. Branchlets pendulous; leaves in whorls of three, 3.5 mm long, minutely incurved with 2 white bands beneath (Britannica Online, "Alerce", Farjon 1998). "Leaves persisting several years, in alternating whorls of 3, their bases flattened and decurrent, the free part spreading, obovate or oblong lanceolate, about 1/8 in. long with a minute incurved point, upper surface concave with 2 sunken white stomatic bands, lower surface convex with a broad green midrib, on each side of which is a white band of stomata extending from the base to near the apex. Male and female strobili on the same or on different trees, sometimes hermaphrodite. Male strobili solitary in the leaf axils near the points of the shoots, cylindrical with 15-24 stamens in whorls of 3. Female strobili solitary, about 1/4 in. in diameter, on short, stalk-like, leafy shoots. Cones woody, 1/4 - 1/3 in. in diameter, ripening the first year, composed of 9 scales in 3 whorls, the lowest minute and sterile, the middle empty or each bearing a 2-winged seed, the upper scales the largest and bearing 2- or 3-winged seeds, the apex of the cone terminating in gland-like, resin-secreting bodies about 1/8 in. long, which exhale a fragrant odour. Cotyledons 2. Hermaphrodite strobili have a larger number of scales" (Dallimore et al. 1967). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy.

Distribution and Ecology

S Chile & S Argentina "from the coast range south of Valdivia, and on Chiloe Island, to the Andes, between 41°S and 43°S" (Dallimore et al. 1967).

In Argentina, alerce grows on mountain slopes and lake shores, at elevations of 300 to 900 meters. Summer average temperatures are 13-16°C. Winter average temperatures vary from 2-4°C. The area receives 2000-4000 mm. of annual precipitation. In Chile, temperatures can be a bit higher at lower elevations, and rainfall is as high as 6000 mm (Marcelo Fabián Cano, e-mail 2003.12.22). Hardy to Zone 8 (cold hardiness limit between -12.1°C and -6.7°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

Curiously, although the tree grows in virtual rainforest, it is dependent on catastrophic fire in order to regenerate stands; the current widespread decline observed among remnant populations may be due in good measure to fire suppression (Lara et al. 1999).

Fitzroya cupressoides (alerce) description (conifers.org)

https://youtu.be/vhI8LXK7A2Q?t=2429