Coihue

Description:

It is a leafy tree, with dark brown-gray bark, with large superficial cracks and horizontally flattened branches that give it a characteristic appearance. Its leaves are perennial and coriaceous, have a very short petiole and rounded rhombus shape, with the sawed edge. The flowers are barely visible because they are green and are less than 5 mm in length. In the same individual there are male flowers (which have red anthers) and female flowers and the pollen is dispersed by the action of the wind. They are born to three in a peduncle in mid-spring. Its fruits are small and not very noticeable, however, in the south of Chile there are people who believe that the fruit of the coigüe is the llaollao (Cyttaria harioti), a globally edible fungus; While others consider fruits to the galls (tumors) that the tree creates to defend itself from the posture of eggs of a certain hymenopteran. Its wood is similar to that of oak. The wood is light yellow and is used in carpentry and firewood of intermediate quality. The heart of the tree, called heal, is harder and withstands moisture better, so it is used to make stakes that hold barbed wire. It has been introduced as ornamental in the British Isles and also on the North Pacific coast of the United States.

Habitat:

Is a perennial tree that grows in the center and south of Chile, between the VI and XII region, from 35 to 47 ° south latitude, and from sea level to 1200 m above sea level in the Andes. On the other hand, it also grows in the southwest of Argentina, near the Andes mountain range, south of the 38º S parallel; Administratively in the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, and in the northwest of Chubut. Also in the south of the Big Island of Tierra del Fuego and near the Beagle Channel