Chuquiraga is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.[2][3][4] The genus is distributed in the Andes from Colombia to Chile, with most species occurring in Patagonia.[3]

Chuquiraga
Chuquiraga jussieui
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Barnadesioideae
Tribe: Barnadesieae
Genus: Chuquiraga
Juss.
Synonyms[1]
  • Joannesia Pers. 1807, illegitimate homonym not Vell. 1789 (Euphorbiaceae)
  • Joannea Willd. ex Spreng.
  • Diacantha Lag.
  • Johannia Willd.

These are evergreen shrubs. They have many shapes and sizes of leaves, and two general types of flowers apparently adapted for pollination by hummingbirds and insects.[5] Some species occur at elevations over 4000 meters in the Andes, while others can be found at sea level.[6]

Many are of ecological importance because they are dominant plant species in very dry habitat types, and local animals depend on them.[7] Hummingbirds of the genus Oreotrochilus, the hillstars, rely heavily on these plants, and some species have never been observed on any other plant taxa.[8]

Some species have been used as fuel, as traditional medicines, and as ornamental plants.[7]

Species[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist Archived 2014-11-14 at archive.today
  2. ^ Jussieu, Antoine Laurent de. 1789. Genera Plantarum 178 in Latin
  3. ^ a b (in Spanish) Chuquiraga Juss. Arboles y arbustos de los Andes del Ecuador. eFloras.
  4. ^ Anderberg, A. A.; et al. (2007). "Chuquiraga Juss.". In Kadereit, J. W. and C. Jeffrey (ed.). Flowering plants: Eudicots; Asterales. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. 8. Springer. p. 90. ISBN 978-3-540-31050-1.
  5. ^ Ezcurra, C. (2002). Phylogeny, morphology, and biogeography of Chuquiraga, an Andean-Patagonian genus of Asteraceae-Barnadesioideae. The Botanical Review 68(1), 153-70.
  6. ^ Ezcurra, C., et al. (1997). Phylogeny of Chuquiraga sect. Acanthophyllae (Asteraceae-Barnadesioideae), and the evolution of its leaf morphology in relation to climate. Systematic Botany 22(1), 151-63.
  7. ^ a b Hoeneisen, M., et al. (2000). Constituents of Chuquiraga atacamensis and C. ulicina. Boletín de la Sociedad Chilena de Química 45(1), 49-52.
  8. ^ Bleiweiss, R. (1982). The northern limit of the hummingbird genus Oreotrochilus in South America. The Auk 99(2), 376-78.