Escallonia resinosa

Escallonia resinosa is an evergreen shrub or tree native to the Andean forests of Peru, Bolivia and southern Ecuador from 2600 to 4200 meters above sea level.[1] A component of high Andean forests, it is regarded as an important source of raw materials for the Andean peoples.[2][3]

Escallonia resinosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Escalloniales
Family: Escalloniaceae
Genus: Escallonia
Species:
E. resinosa
Binomial name
Escallonia resinosa
Synonyms

Escallonia cuneifolia (Ruiz & Pav.) Schult.
Escallonia mandonii Rusby
Escallonia mandonii var. microphylla Herzog
Escallonia multiflora C.Presl
Stereoxylon cuneifolium Ruiz & Pav.
Stereoxylon resinosum Ruiz & Pav.

Description

Escallonia resinosa grows as a shrub or tree from 2 to 10 m in height.[1][3] The trunk has an irregular shape and is often twisted, with a reddish papery bark.[3] Leaves are simple and spirally arranged, often clustered at the end of the branchlets, oblanceolate, 2–3.5 cm long, 0.5–0.7 cm wide, with a finely dentate margin.[3] Flowers are white, small (ca. 1 cm long), and borne in racemes or panicles.[3]

Distribution and habitat

Escallonia resinosa is found in the Andes, from southern Ecuador to Peru and Bolivia, between 2600 and 4200 m of elevation. It is found in seasonally dry montane forests of mountain slopes, often growing in association with trees of genera Polylepis and Buddleja.[2]

Uses

Escallonia resinosa is a source of firewood and wood of good quality throughout its range.[3] This tree species furnishes a hard wood for tools and is often used to manufacture chaquitacllas (a tool used for soil plowing) by the indigenous peoples of the Andes since ancient times.[3] The wood was also probably used by the Incas to make a type of ceremonial vases called kero.[4][5] Leaves are used as a source of a beige color dye applied to cotton and wool.[6]

gollark: https://pastebin.com/RM13UGFa is saved as `autorun`.
gollark: `autorun` does all the real work.
gollark: Oh, `startup` is the process manager.
gollark: Yes. Does it not work?
gollark: Especially if you want cross-server capability, P2P instead of having a central server, any actual security, formatting or something...

References
  1. "Tropicos.org". Missouri Botanical Garden.
  2. Gade, Daniel (1999). Nature and Culture in the Andes. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 43.
  3. Reynel, Carlos; Marcelo, Jose Luis (2009). Árboles de los Ecosistemas Forestales Andinos (in Spanish). Lima: ECOBONA. pp. 64–69.
  4. Carreras, Raquel; Escalera, Andrés (1998). "Identificación de la madera de las vasijas de libación inca (keros) pertenecientes a la colección del Museo de América" (PDF). Anales. Museo de América (in Spanish) (6): 217–222. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  5. Falcón, Víctor (2011). "Aproximación a los queros incaicos de la Colonia". Arqueología del Perú (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  6. Antúnez de Mayolo, Kay (1989). "Peruvian natural dye plants". Economic Botany. 43 (2): 181–191. doi:10.1007/BF02859858.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.