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Chilean Flora

Our country offers a wide variety of plants thanks to its diverse geography and climate. In the North, on the coast, the vegetation is nearly non-existant if it weren't for a large variety of cacti. In the small and central North more vegetation can be found because there's a more humid environment, the largest part consisting of shrubbery and trees with hard leaves. Here, species abound such as the "Litre" (Lithraea caustica), Lun, Guayacan (Porlieria chilensis), Peumo, and many others.

Further to the South, you will find trees such as the Oak, Coigüe (evergreen), Hazelnut, Canelo (Winter's Bark), Araucaria, and Larch. A large part of the diversity of the flora in Chile is characterized by being only in the limits of our territory. This is why trees, shrubbery and other flora, that we will continue to refer to, correspond to the most representative and characteristic species of national flora.

Many of these species are in serious danger of extinction. The extraordinary quality of some of them- like the Larch and the Araucaria- next to its slow growth have made that indiscriminate felling causes the disappearance of forests that are thousands of years old. And the process of destruction (or what others may call progress) shows no sign of slowing.

Larch, cahuén (Fitzroya cupressoides)
	Family: Cupressaceae
	Distribution: Grows between Valdivia and Chiloé. By the Coastal Range, in the Pelada mountain (at the height of Osorno and Valdivia, more than 600 m. above sea level). In the average depression, between Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt and in the Andes mountain range between Llanquihue and the Futaleufú river. It can be also found in Chiloé.
	Details: It's conifer that grows extremely slowly (its trunck grows 1 cm. of thickness every 15 or 20 years) and can live for 3 to 4 thousand years. Reaches a height of 50 meters and a diameter of 3 to 4 meters. The branchwork is irregular, forming a pyrimidal top and it's moderately thick bark is reddish with deep longitudinal grooves. Its wood is reddish, of excellent quality and beautiful grain. Also, it's light and hard-wearing, imputrescible and insect-resistant.
Carob-tree (Prosopis chilensis)
	Familia: Fabaceae
	Distribution: Found in poor soils of the central valley, between Coquimbo and Colchagua.
	Details: A corpulent tree, with flexible and spiny branches, 8 to 14 meters tall. It has caducous leaves, divided into 13 to 20 linear folios, with full length of 10 to 20 cm , yellowish green. It's flowers, in turn, have dense tassels 6 to 12 cm long; 5 joined sepals, 5 free petals and 10 stamens. Flowers from October to December. The fruit is a bent pod, large, 4 to 10 cm long. Native from Peru, Argentina, and Chile.
Araucaria (Araucaria araucana)
	Familia: Araucariaceae
	Distribution: Endemic species of Chile and Argentina. It can be found by the Andean Range from Ñuble (Antuco Volcano) to Villarrica Volcano. Also, on the Coastal Range but only in the Nahuelbuta mountain. Grows more than 800 meters above sea level.
	Details: An extremely slow growing tree, reaching a height of 50 meters. It has a straight trunk, cilindrical and very thick (3 or more meters in diameter). The branches start at various meters above the ground. The leaves are very hard and have a thorn on the tip. The bark is rough, thick, formed by rectangular sheets of dark grey or reddish cork. The wood has a high value and is characterized by being compact, thin, and of a yellowish white color.
Hazel (Gevuina avellana)
	Family: Protáceas
	Distribution: Grows from Valparaíso, by the coast, to the Guaitecas islands.
	Details: This tree grows up to a height of 20 meters. It has a pyramidal growth with a straight trunck and thin branches. Its bark is ash-grey with dark spots. The new buds are covered by small dense hairs of a reddish color. The leaves are continously green, composits, inparipinnated, with serrated edge, coriaceous, of reticulated and brilliant veins. It has small flowers, arranged in axillary racemes, meeting in pairs; the peduncles are found covered by dense reddish hairs. Flowers during January and February, and the fruit is a drupaceous globose nut of 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter. The shell is woody with colors that vary from green to black, passing through red, maroon, and violet tones. The seed is very rich in nutritients and is edible. The Hazel wood has a grain that is beautiful, solid, thin, and elastic. It is used in carpentry and cabinet-making, and also for constructing boats, to make oars, musical instruments, and veneers.
Northern Acorn (Weilschmiedia miersii)
	Family: Lauraceae
	Distribution: Lives in humid places and banks of streams, in the coastal forests of the Aconcagua basin, the provinces of Valparaíso and Santiago. Rare species.
	Details: Corpulent tree, evergreen, 5 to 10 m tall. Simple leaves, opposing petioles, 11 cm. long and 7 cm. width, oblong, with whole edge, coriaceous, brilliant. Flowers, 3 to 5 cm long, have 6 thick sepals, 9 stamen, 3 staminates, and capitate stigma. It flowers from March to April. The fruit is a hanging yellowish oval stone fruit. The wood is good and the fruit can be used for hog feed.
Boldo (Peumus boldus)
	Family: Monimiáceas
	Distribution: Found from Fray Jorge, in the Coquimbo region, to Osorno, growing mainly in the sunny mountainsides below both mountain ranges, and also in the Central Valley. This is a common species.
	Details: This tree has dark and dense foilage: its leaves are aromatic, perennial, coriaceous, whole from 3 to 7 cm long by 1 to 5 cm wide; of varied form, with edges folded inward. They're rough to the touch, covered by rigid hairs, stellate, and have aromatic glands. The outer face is dark green and the interior is a lighter green. The flowers appear in short, axillary racemes, and are yellowish white 5 to 10 mm in diameter. The fruit is a fleshy and juicy stone fruit of pleasant taste, with an oval shape of 5 to 7 mm. in length and yellow greenish color when it's matured The leaves of this tree can be used as a medical infusion against liver diseases. The wood is used as firewood or coal.
Bollen (Kageneckia oblonga)
	Family: Rosaceae
	Distribution: Hillsides with poor terrain, edges of streams between Coquimbo and Malleco. Native to Chile, it's frequently found in the central provinces. However, it's scarce in the South.
	Details: It is a shrub or little tree of 2 to 10 meters tall. It has simple leaves 3 to 8 cm long, oblong with serrated edge, coriaceous of light green color on the underside. The flowers are dioicas, where feminine flowers are single or in lax panicles, and masculine flowers in more dense and axillary panicles. Flowers from September to December and the fruit is a star-shaped capsule with 5 sections, 2 to 3 cm in diameter, containing numerous winged seeds. The wood is very hard and is used to make farming tools and as firewood.
Magellan Barberry or "Calafate" (Berberis buxifolia)
	Family: Berberidaceae
	Distribution: From Curicó to Tierra del Fuego. Generally, it grows on open terrains and at different altitudes. It's a common species.
	Details: A thorny shrub, 1 to 2 meters tall. It has leaves grouped together in rosettes, of varying sizes. The spines are yellowish and grow up to 3 cm. long. It's flowers are solitary with long peduncle that sprouds from each leave rosette. Flowers in September and the fruit, which is edible, is a berry with various seeds.
Winter's Bark or "Canelo" (Drimys winteri)
	Family: Winteraceae
	Distribution: Between the Limarí river and the Cape of Hornos, at different altitudes above sea level up to 1.200 meters. The variety "contertifolia" Phil is typical of Juan Fernández.
	Details: It has a straight and cylindrical trunk which reaches a height of 30 m and a diameter of 1 m. Has thin branches with a reddish color in at the end of the twigs. The leaves are perennial, petioles, alternating and simple, of light green color and light green bluish on the underside. The length is 5 to 14 cm and 4 cm in width. The middle vein is very defined, whereas the outer veins are reticulated and hardly visible. The flowers are arranged in composite umbellules. They are also hermaphrodites and have between 10 and 20 lanceolate petals of waxy texture and a wrinkly surface. The fruits are blackish berries, 1 cm long. "Canelo" wood is used in construction, furniture making and in the fabrication of musical instruments. It's the sacred tree of the Mapuche people.
Mountain Cypress (Austrocedrus chilensis)
	Family: Cupressaceae
	Distribution: From the mountain range in the Aconcagua area to the South of Chiloé. Common in the mountainous chords in the Andes, up to 2,000 meters above sea level. In the South they are found in the Costal Range, far from the ocean.
	Details: Tree of pyrimidal form, evergreen, of 15 to 20 meters tall with grey and wrinkled bark. It has leveled branches, covered by two types of scaly leaves.
Dwarf cypress (Dacrydium fonckii)
	Family: Podocarpaceae
	Distribution: Lives from Validivia to Magellan, in marshy, high places.
	Details: This species is very rare and is a very short bush whose trunks grow hidden in the mud, jutting out only 10 to 30 cm. Its leaves, like scales, completely cover the branches. Flowers from November to February and the fruit is hard and between 3 to 4 mm. long.
Coigüe (Nothofagus dombeyi)
	Family: Fagaceae
	Distribution: From Colchagua to Aysén.
	Details: Beautiful evergreen tree that grows relatively quick and can reach a height of 40 m. It has a straight, cylindrical trunk and free of branches in the inferior part. The bark has grey uniform color, thin, and with abundant longitudinal shallow fissures. The branching is radial and give the feeling of being stratified in horizontal planes.
Colihuay (Colliguaja intergerrima)
	Family: Euphorbiaceae
	Distribution: Found between Santiago and Magellan in the Andes mountain range
	Details: It's a ramose bush, 1 to 2 m. tall, with long and thin leaves with full edges of 2 to 5 cm. long. Flowers from September to November and the fruit is a smooth capsule, 1 to 2 cm in diameter with a spherical seed in each of its three sections. As a plant that has latex, it is used to alleviate toothaches and against tooth decay (caries).
Colihue (Chusquea culeou)
	Family: Gramínea
	Distribution: Lives from Talca to Aysén.
	Details: It is a shrub-like plant, perennial, with simple canes and without branches. The canes are solid and grow between 2 and 8 meters long. The leaves are long and thin, between 2 and 8 cm. long, and grow on the knots of the canes. Flowers certain number of years from October to March. The canes are used generally in construction and furniture manufacturing, walking sticks, and artistic objects.
Copihue or Chilean Bellflower (Lapageria rosea)
	Family: Filesiaceae
	Distribution: It's found from Valparaíso to Osorno in both mountain ranges, tangled in bushes and trees in humid areas.
	Details: The copihue is Chile's national flower. It is a vine that can reach a length of up to 4 meters. Has simple leaves, oval-oblong, borad and smooth edges, dark green on the top side and light green under. The flowers are 5 to 10 cm. long, of an intense red color and appear between March and May. They produce an edible fruit, a berry of sweet taste and many seeds. The root is used in popular medicine against venereal diseases, gout, and rheumatism.
Chagual (Puya berteroniana)
	Family: Bromeliaceae
	Distribution: Lives in the sunny hillsides in the central area of the country.
	Details: A perennial plant with leaves in tight rosettes. The leaves are long, thin, bent, and have hard spines on the edges. Each leave can grow to a meter in lenght and 2 to 2.5 cm. width. The flowers are of a beautiful tourquoise color and arranged like spikes. Flowers from October to November. The dry shoots are used in construction and as a fuel, furthermore to produce good fibers for the fabrication of leather and mats. Fresh leaves can be eaten in salads.
Wild fuchsia (Fucsia magellanica)
	Family: Onagrceae
	Distribution: Lives between Coquimbo and Tierra del Fuego in humid ravines, slopes, edges of lakes and lagoons. It is more common to find from Temuco to the South.
	Details: It is an evergreen bush 1 to 2 m. tall with thin, long, and fragile branches. The leaves, 5 cm long, are light green on the underside. The flowers are formed by a calyx of 5 fleshy red sepals and the corolla by 5 purple petals. Flowers from August to April.
Hawthorn (Acacia caven)
	Family: Mimosaceae
	Distribution: Grows between Coquimbo and Concepción in steppes, hills, and plains.
	Details: This is a thorny tree with hard wood and grows from 2 to 6 m. Flowers between August and October and produces a fruit, a pod vegetable which is black and grey. Given a certain hardness of the wood, it is used to fabricate shapely objects, and also for coal and firewood.
Guayacán (Porlieria chilensis)
	Family: Zigofiláceas
	Distribución: Lives between Coquimbo and Colchagua, on the sunny hillsides.
	Details: It is a bush that can reach up to 4 m. in height. It has twisted branches with opposing pairs of evergreen leaves, up to 18 pairs. Each leaf can be between 1.5 and 3.5 cm long and can curl up during the night. Flowers between August and March and the fruit is a dark purple capsule when mature. The wood is used in craftmanship due to its hardness.
Guindilla (Guindilia trinervis)
	Family: Sapindaceae
	Distribution: Lives in the central region, in the Andean mountainsides and hillsides.
	Details: It is a bush that can reach a height of 0.6 to 1.20 m. Its leaves are pointed upward, simple and 1.5 to 2 cm long. Flowers between September and October, and the fruit is a spherical capsule of 1 to 2 cm. in diameter.
Guindo Santo (Eucryphia glutinosa)
	Family: Eucriphiaceae
	Distribution: Exclusively found in the provinces of Bío-Bío and Ñuble in the 7th Region, as well as the locations on the pre-Andean range.
	Details: The blessed guindo is a tree that reaches 4 to 5 meters (13-17 ft) in height and 10-15 cm (4-6 inches) in diameter. Its trunk has a clean bark of lustrous red color, with forked branches that have an extremely sticky substance on the ends. Its leaves are evergreen and its flowers are hermaphroditic, large and colorful, with four white petals and yellow stamens. The fruit of the tree ripens between February and April.
Olivillo (Aextoxicon punctatum)
	Family: Aextoxicaceae
	Distribution: Found on the sunny slopes of the pre-Andean hills, in the central provinces of Chile.
	Details: This species grows in very specific areas in Coquimbo province. The tree is very abundant within Chilean forests due to its temperate climate, which helps the trees grow. Its trunk grows to reach 25 cm. (10 in.) in height and can measure 1 meter (39 inches) in diameter. Its most important characteristic is its shape, an almost cylindrical shape with a large proportion of empty space between branches. They reach the largest size at an age close to 60.
Oak (Nothofagus oblicua)
	Family: Fagaceae
	Distribution: Found from the Aconcagua river to Llaquihue and Chiloé. It also lives in its macrocarpa variety in some points of the Coastal mountain range.
	Details: It's a tree of a pyramidal aspect that measures between 5 and 15 meters (16-49ft) in height. It has an abundant and evergreen foliage that branches out from its base. Its trunk is smooth, cylindrical, with some gray tones. Its leaves are simple and arranged in two lines of 1 to 2.5 m. (3.3ft to 8.2ft). At its largest point it is 1.5 to 2 meters (5-6.5ft) wide. The tree grows a fruit commonly known as “grape of the mountain range,” that has a fleshy consistency, egg-shaped, and a whitish-color early on that turns into a violet-blue when it matures.
Ulmo (Eucryphia cordifolia)
	Family: Eucriphiaceae
	Distribution: Between Arauco and Chiloé, especially in the Coastal mountain range up to 700 m. (2,300 ft.) in altitude.
	Details: An evergreen tree that can grow to reach 40m (131 ft) in height, with a trunk that is 2 meters (6.5 ft) in diameter. The bark is of taupe color with fissure-like markings that run lengthwise across the tree. The trunk stands straight up, with branches much smaller in size. Its leaves undulate, having whole borders the ones on the upper side and somewhat jagged borders the ones on the lower side. The ulmo blooms between January and February, and its white flowers make you believe the tree is covered in snow. The wood is heavy and hard, of excellent quality, and is therefore used in construction and manufacturing of cross planks for train tracks. Its bark, rich in tannin, is often used in tanneries.