| Beilschmiedia berteroana | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Laurales |
| Family: | Lauraceae |
| Genus: | Beilschmiedia |
| Species: | B. berteroana |
| Binomial name | |
| Beilschmiedia berteroana (Gay) Kosterm. |
|
Beilschmiedia berteroana (Southern belloto, Belloto del sur: in Spanish) is a threatened evergreen tree in the family Lauraceae native to Chile: 35 to 37°S.
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It can measure 30 m in height and one metre in diameter. The trunk is straight and branched, the bark is gray with longitudinal fissures. Leaves are opposite and sub-opposite, elliptical to aovate-elliptical and they have the entire margin, they are glossy green above and glaucous below. The apex is rounded or slightly emarginated and the base is lightly wedge-shaped. The leaves are about 3-7.5 long and 2-4 wide, pubescent petioles 2–5 mm long. Hermaphrodite flowers arranged in inflorescences about 5–6 cm long. Pedicelate flowers 4–6 mm, greenish-yellow.[1] Glabrous and fleshy tepals, stamens 1mm long, staminodes 5mm, style 1mm ends in an obtuse stigma. The fruit is a green globose berry with a single seed, 1.5–2 cm in diameter, with a point at the apex.
It grows at altitudes up to 1800 m above sea level, and it has an acceptable frost tolerance within this mostly tropical genus. A specific example of occurrence is in the La Campana National Park of central Chile and amid the adjoining Cerro La Campana; in that location it is associated with the endangered Chilean Wine Palm, a tree with a much wider prehistoric distribution than at present.[2]
The bark of B. berteroana is useful for tanning leather. It is often used as an ornamental tree in Chile. It blooms between July and August (southern hemisphere). The flowers are used by introduced European bees for producing a very delicious honey. The wood is very beautiful and hard. The tree has been planted and acclimatized in Spain, but is rarely seen there[3].