| Viraró | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Polygonaceae |
| Genus: | Ruprechtia |
| Species: | R. salicifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Ruprechtia salicifolia (Cham. et Schlecht.) C. A. Mey | |
Ruprechtia salicifolia (native name viraró) is a timber tree native to South America. Its wood withstands decay and is good for making springboards and other articles.
A thicket-forming shrub or dioecious tree native to South America, it is a perennial phanerogamous or seed producing plant in the Polygonaceae family. [1]
It grows to a height of about 4–6 m (exceptionally, 10 m). It has a somewhat tortuous trunk with visible lenticels and is highly branched. Its foliage is deciduous, with simple, alternating, lanceolate 9–16 cm long leaves and a shiny upper surface. It has small paniculate male flowers and racemoid female flowers. It begins to flower in spring. Its fruit is a chestnut-coloured, splined rhomboid achene. It fruits in summer — with a notable presence that covers the treetop — and ripens in autumn. [2]
A detailed, open access description by Pendry is available online. [3] Pendry says salicifolia is unmistakable in the Ruprechtia genus "because of its long, narrowly ovate leaves, which have the highest length:width ratio".
Kew Plants of the World Online accepts these homotypic synonyms:
R. salicifolia is known locally as viraró or iviraró. The former name is also applied to the similar species R. laxiflora. [5] In Brazil both are known as marmeleiro-do-mato [6] (bush quince).
It thrives on the banks of rivers and streams. One source says it is native to the banks of the Uruguay River and its tributaries. [6]
Northeast Argentina, Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul), Uruguay. [7]
It furnishes an excellent hard timber (relative density 0.62-0.70) that resists decay and is siliceous (thus it blunts edged tools, but withstands mollusc and crustacean attack). It is used in coachwork, boatbuilding, bearings, tools, beams, springboards, goal posts, shoe trees, fine folded furniture, cabinet making, walking sticks, tobacco pipes, carvings, kitchen mortars, and other woodwork. It is used for making plywood. [5]
Ziliani attributes the mature wood's hardness and resistance to decay in aquatic environments (notably in the presence of the naval shipworm) to its silica content, a feature found in timbers with similar properties. [8]
Because of its affinity for river bank thickets it has been suggested for planting for erosion defence. [6]
The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus Polygonum, and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 in his book, Genera Plantarum. The name may refer to the many swollen nodes the stems of some species have, being derived from Greek [poly meaning 'many' and gony meaning 'knee' or 'joint']. Alternatively, it may have a different origin, meaning 'many seeds'.
Buddleja is a genus comprising over 140 species of flowering plants endemic to Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The generic name bestowed by Linnaeus posthumously honoured the Reverend Adam Buddle (1662–1715), an English botanist and rector, at the suggestion of Dr. William Houstoun. Houstoun sent the first plants to become known to science as buddleja to England from the Caribbean about 15 years after Buddle's death. Buddleja species, especially Buddleja davidii and interspecific hybrids, are commonly known as butterfly bushes and are frequently cultivated as garden shrubs. Buddleja davidii has become an invasive species in both Europe and North America.
Gentianaceae is a family of flowering plants of 103 genera and about 1600 species.
Myrica is a genus of about 35–50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and missing only from Australia. Some botanists split the genus into two genera on the basis of the catkin and fruit structure, restricting Myrica to a few species, and treating the others in Morella.
Tigridia, is a genus of bulbous or cormous flowering plants belonging to the family Iridaceae. With common names including peacock flowers, tiger-flowers or shell flowers, they have large showy flowers; and one species, Tigridia pavonia, is often cultivated for this. The approximately 35 species in this family grow in the Americas, from Mexico to Chile. The tigridia flower is short lived, each often blooming for only one day, but often several flowers will bloom from the same stalk. Usually they are dormant during the winter dry-season. The roots are edible and were eaten by the Aztecs of Mexico who called it cacomitl, and its flower ocēlōxōchitl "jaguar flower". The genus name Tigridia means "tiger-like", and alludes to the coloration and spotting of the flowers of the type species Tigridia pavonia.
Adelia is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, subfamily Acalyphoideae. It is native to Latin America and the Caribbean, with one species extending northward into the southernmost part of Texas.
Lippia is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. It was named after Augustus Lippi, (1678-1705), a French naturalist and botanist. He was killed in Abyssinia. The genus contains roughly 200 species of tropical shrubs that are found around the world. Plants are fragrant due to their essential oils, which vary between species but may include estragole, carvacrol, linalool, or limonene. The leaves of certain species, such as L. graveolens, can be used as a culinary herb similar to oregano.
Quercus germana, the Mexican royal oak, is a species of oak tree in the family Fagaceae. It is native to mountain cloud forests in eastern Mexico. It is placed in section Quercus.
Mosè Giacomo Bertoni, known in Spanish as Moisés Santiago Bertoni, was an Italian-speaking Swiss naturalist. He emigrated to South America in 1884 and lived in Paraguay from 1887 until he died in 1929.
Ebenopsis ebano is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, that is native to the coastal plain of southern Texas in the United States and eastern Mexico. It is commonly known as Texas ebony or ebano.
Citharexylum is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. It contains shrub and tree species commonly known as fiddlewoods or zitherwoods. They are native to the Americas, ranging from southern Florida and Texas in the United States to Argentina. The highest diversity occurs in Mexico and the Andes. The generic name is derived from the Greek words κιθάρα (kithara), meaning "lyre", and ξύλον (xylon), meaning "wood," referring to the use of the wood in the sounding boards of string instruments. Several species, especially C. caudatum and C. spinosum, are cultivated as ornamentals.
Sambucus australis is a species of tree in the family Adoxaceae. It is native to South America.
Cunila is a genus of plants in the Lamiaceae, first described in 1759. It is native to North and South America.
Chaetogastra is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Melastomataceae. Its native range is South America and North America. It contains around 115 species.
Cysticapnos is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Papaveraceae.
Staelia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Rubiaceae.
Buchnera is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Orobanchaceae. Its native range is Northern and Tropical America, Tropical and Southern Africa, Madagascar, Arabian Peninsula Tropical Asia, Australia.
The first edition of this article was a translation of its counterpart in Spanish Wikipedia.