Drimys winteri
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| Drimys winteri | ||||||||||||||
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 D. winterii flowers
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| Drimys winteri J.R. Forst. & G. Forst. |
Drimys winteri (Winter's Bark), or Canelo, is a slender tree, growing up to 20 m (65 ft) tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coastal evergreen forests. It is found below 1200 meters (4000 ft) between latitude 32° south and Cape Horn at latitude 56°. In its southernmost natural range it can tolerate temperatures down to −20 °C (−4 °F).
Leaves are lanceolate, glossy green above, whitish below and can measure up to 20 cm (7 in). Its flower is white with its center yellow and is made up by a great number of petals and stamens. Its fruit is a bluish berry.
It is also grown as an ornamental plant for its red-brown bark, bright green fragrant leaves and its clusters of creamy white jasmine-scented flowers. The bark is gray, thick and soft and is used as a pepper replacement in Argentina and Chile. The peppery compound in Canelo is polygodial.[1] D. winteri was also the first commercial source of vitamin C[citation needed].
The species grows well in South England, but specimens brought from the southern forests of Tierra del Fuego and planted in the Faroe Islands have proven to be especially hardy.[2]A fine specimen is found in Northumberland[3]. It has been planted in the North Pacific Coast of the United States[4].
Canelo wood is reddish in color and heavy, with a very beautiful grain. It is used for furniture and music instruments. The wood is not durable outdoors because continuous rainfalls damage it. The wood is not good for making bonfires because gives off a spicy smoke.
[edit] References
- ^ Muñoz-Conchaa, D., Vogelb, H., Yunesc, R., Razmilicd, I., Brescianic, L., and Malheirosc, A., Presence of polygodial and drimenol in Drimys populations from Chile, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, Volume 35, Issue 7, July 2007, Pages 434-438
- ^ Højgaard, A., J. Jóhansen, and S. Ødum (eds) 1989. A century of tree planting in the Faroe Islands. Føroya Frodskaparfelag, Torshavn.
- ^ "Half-hardy trees in Britain and Ireland - part two". Royal Horticultural Society. http://www.rhs.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/831C8FEF-445C-4FA3-8951-AA257A07F238/0/halfhardytrees.pdf.
- ^ "Drimys winteri in Washington Park Arboretum". Seattle Government. http://www.seattle.gov/parks/proparks/projects/ArboretumReport.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-06-27.
- Hoffmann, Adriana (1997), Flora silvestre de Chile zona araucana: Una guía ilustrada para la identificación de las especies de plantas leñosas del sur de Chile (entre el río Maule y el seno de Reloncaví)., Santiago: El Mercurio. ISBN 956-7743-01-0.
[edit] External links
- History, botanical origin, description, etc. Hanburgy, Daniel and Friedrich August Flückiger (1879). Pharmacographia; a History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin... London: Macmillan and Co. pp 17-20.
- "Drimys winteri in Crarae Gardens, Scotland". Dendrological Plant Image Gallery. http://www.dendroimage.de/2188.htm. Retrieved on 2009-06-27.
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