'''Pilgerodendron''' is a
genus of
conifer belonging to the cypress family
Cupressaceae. It has only one
species, '''Pilgerodendron uviferum''', and is
endemic to the
Valdivian temperate rain forests and
Magellanic subpolar forests of southern
Chile and
Argentina. It is a member of subfamily Callitroideae, a group of distinct
southern hemisphere genera associated with the
Antarctic flora. It is very closely related to the
New Zealand and
New Caledonian genus ''
Libocedrus'', and many botanists treat it within this genus, as ''Libocedrus uvifera''. It is known locally as 'Ciprés de las Guaitecas', and elsewhere by its scientific name, as 'Pilgerodendron'. The genus is named after
Robert Knud Friedrich Pilger.
Pilgerodendron is a slow-growing, narrowly conical
evergreen tree which grows from 2-20 m in height, with scale-like
leaves arranged in decussate pairs. The leaves are all equal in size, giving the shoots a square cross-section (unlike the other ''Libocedrus'' species, where pairs of larger leaves alternate with pairs of smaller leaves, giving a somewhat flattened shoot). The
cones are 5-10 mm long, with four scales, two sterile basal scales and two fertile scales; each scale has a slender spine-like bract, and each fertile scale has two winged
seeds 3-4 mm long.
Pilgerodendron is found in the evergreen coastal lowland forests along the
Pacific coast of the ecoregion, in association the broadleaf evergreens ''
Nothofagus betuloides'' and ''
Drimys winteri''. It is also found in open stands in sheltered
bogs further inland, where it is often locally dominant, and ranges as far as the eastern slopes of the
Andes in southwestern Argentina. At the northern end of its range it is found in association with ''
Fitzroya cupressoides''.
The species is considered threatened by the
World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Much of its original lowland habitat has been cleared.
References
★ Listed as Vulnerable (VU A2cd v2.3)
External links
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Photo of cones
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Photo of foliage
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Photo of trees
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''Pilgerodendron uviferum'' in Chilebosque