Embothrium coccineum, Chilean firetree or Chilean firebush, commonly known in Chile and Argentina as notro, ciruelillo and fósforo is a small evergreen tree in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. It grows in the temperate forests of Chile and Argentina.
Description
The Chilean firetree grows 4–15 m (13–50 ft) tall and can reach 50 cm (20 in) in diameter. The bark is dark grey with light spots and the wood is light pink in colour. It produces clusters of deep red
flowers (occasionally pale yellow) and
Blossom occurs in spring. The
fruit is a dry follicle, with about 10
inside.
Ecology
It is pollinated by both hummingbirds and insects in its natural range.
[Devoto, M., N. H. Montaldo & D. Medan, 2006. Mixed hummingbird: Long-proboscid-fly pollination in ‘ornithophilous’ Embothrium coccineum (Proteaceae) along a rainfall gradient in Patagonia, Argentina. Austral Ecology, 31: 512–519]
Cluster roots
Like other members of the family Proteaceae,
E. coccineum seedlings produce dense root masses called
or proteoid roots that provide access to normally inaccessible forms of various nutrients, especially
phosphorus. Cluster roots exude acidic substances which are able to convert the otherwise inaccessible forms of nutrients into forms that are biologically useful. These nutrients are then made available to other plants from the
leaf litter of
E. coccineum, making it a valuable keystone plant in certain terrains.
[Piper, Frida I., Gabriela Baez, Alejandra Zúñiga-Feest, and Alex Fajardo. 2013. Soil nitrogen, and not phosphorus, promotes cluster-root formation in a South American Proteaceae, Embothrium coccineum. American Journal of Botany 100:2328-2338. doi:10.3732/ajb.1300163 Reported at Eurekalert, January 23, 2014]
Uses
is grown as an ornamental in
Great Britain and the
United States, and as far north as the
Faroe Islands at 62° North latitude.
The plant was introduced to Europe by William Lobb during his plant collecting expedition to the Valdivian temperate forests in 1845–1848. It was described by Kew Gardens as:
"Perhaps no tree cultivated in the open air in the British Isles gives so striking and brilliant a display as this does."[Quoted in ]
The wood being very soft but durable, is used for making , kitchen vessels and other craft articles.
Gallery
File:Embothrium coccineum00.jpg|19th century illustration
File:Sephanoides sephaniodes, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina imported from iNaturalist photo 362459884.jpg|Green-backed firecrown feeding from Chilean firebush flowers, in Tierra del Fuego
External links
