CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt

The Southern Cordillera and Pilgerodendron

Added 2025-01-15 01:27:22 +0000 UTC

Pilgerodendron uviferum is another rare and threatened Gondwanan conifer, found in much wetter areas than Fitzroya. It's basically a bog plant. We found it at the Northern end of its range here near Osorno, along with Azorella diversifolia (Apiaceae) and a forest of Nothofagus pumilio.

Pilgerodendron is dioecious, like Fitzroya, and is most closely related to other members of Cupressaceae that today grow in Tasmania and New Zealand. There are surely fossils of it buried beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, like the lineages of so many of these plants.

Also interesting here is Gunnera magellanica (a male plant), a dwarf Gunnera that shares habitat with the giant Gunnera, Gunnera tinctoria.

Gunnera is a long, lonely branch on the angiosperm family tree, the entire order is mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. Myrothamnus, the resurrection plant from Madagascar and Namibia, is also in this order, which nobody was really expecting until DNA sequencing revealed it.

Patreon is pretty terrible for sharing images and it won't let me add captions or look at the photos that I've uploaded. If anybody has questions about the content here please comment and I'll ID it or comment on habitat.

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