The Juan Fernández Islands are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated 670 km off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe, Alejandro Selkirk and Santa Clara. The group is part of Insular Chile.
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
The Valdivian temperate forests (NT0404) is an ecoregion on the west coast of southern South America, in Chile and Argentina. It is part of the Neotropical realm. The forests are named after the city of Valdivia. The Valdivian temperate rainforests are characterized by their dense understories of bamboos, ferns, and for being mostly dominated by evergreen angiosperm trees with some deciduous specimens, though conifer trees are also common.
The Magellanic subpolar forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and are part of the Neotropical realm. It is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, and contains the world's southernmost forests.
Winteraceae is a primitive family of tropical trees and shrubs including 93 species in five genera. It is of particular interest because it is such a primitive angiosperm family, distantly related to Magnoliaceae, though it has a much more southern distribution. Plants in this family grow mostly in the southern hemisphere, and have been found in tropical to temperate climate regions of Malesia, Oceania, eastern Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and the Neotropics, with most of the genera concentrated in Australasia and Malesia. The five genera, Takhtajania, Tasmannia, Drimys, Pseudowintera, and Zygogynum s.l. all have distinct geographic extant populations. Takhtajania includes a single species, T. perrieri, endemic only to Madagascar, Tasmannia has the largest distribution of genera in Winteraceae with species across the Philippines, Borneo, New Guinea, Eastern Australia, and Tasmannia, Drimys is found in the Neotropical realm, from southern Mexico to the subarctic forests of southern South America, Pseudowintera is found only in New Zealand, and Zygogynum has species in New Guinea and New Caledonia.
The Canellaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Canellales. The order includes only one other family, the Winteraceae. Canellaceae is native to the Afrotropical and Neotropical realms. They are small to medium trees, rarely shrubs, evergreen and aromatic. The flowers and fruit are often red.
Pilgerodendron is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, Pilgerodendron uviferum, which is endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests of southern Chile and southwestern Argentina. It grows from 40 to 54°20' S in Tierra del Fuego, where it is the southernmost conifer in the world. It is a member of subfamily Callitroideae, a group of distinct Southern Hemisphere genera associated with the Antarctic flora.
Tasmannia is a genus of woody, evergreen flowering plants of the family Winteraceae. The 40 species of Tasmannia are native to Australia, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Borneo, and the Philippines. The Winteraceae are magnoliids, and are associated with the humid Antarctic flora of the Southern Hemisphere. The members of the family generally have aromatic bark and leaves, and some are used to extract essential oils. The peppery-flavored fruits and leaves of this genus are increasingly used as a condiment in Australia. The peppery flavour can be attributed to polygodial.
Griselinia is a genus of seven species of shrubs and trees, with a highly disjunct distribution native to New Zealand and South America. It is a classic example of the Antarctic flora. It is the sole genus in the family Griseliniaceae. In the past it was often placed in Cornaceae but differs from that in many features.
Archipiélago de Juan Fernández National Park is a national park located in the Pacific Ocean 665 kilometres west of Chile's mainland port of San Antonio, in the Juan Fernández Archipelago. The park covers 96 square kilometres and comprises the Santa Clara, Alejandro Selkirk and the most part of the Robinson Crusoe Island islands.
Drimys winteri, the Winter's bark, foye or canelo, is a slender tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coastal evergreen forests. It is found below 1,200 m (3,900 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). The plant is renowned for its phenotypic plasticity being able to grow in different sites from "extreme arid zones to wetlands along Chile". The tree does also grow in places with various types and degrees of competition from other plants.
The Masafuera rayadito is a Critically Endangered species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is endemic to Alejandro Selkirk Island in the Juan Fernández Islands of Chile.
Uncinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, known as hook-sedges in Australia and as hook grasses or bastard grasses in New Zealand. The genus is characterised by the presence of a long hook formed by an extension of the rachilla, which is used to attach the fruit to passing animals (epizoochory), especially birds, and it is this feature which gives the genus its name, from the Latin uncinus, meaning a hook or barb.
Polypogon is a nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family, commonly known beard grass or rabbitsfoot grass.
Drimys granadensis is a broadleaf evergreen tree of family Winteraceae. it is native to tropical montane forests from Peru to southern Mexico.
Gamochaeta is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. There has not always been agreement among botanists regarding its status as a recognized genus, but it has become more accepted in recent years. It currently includes many plants that previously belonged in genus Gnaphalium. Like many species of Gnaphalium, many Gamochaeta are called cudweeds or everlastings.
Drimys brasiliensis is a broadleaf evergreen tree of family Winteraceae. it is native to Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, western Paraguay, and northwestern Argentina, and to Bolivia.
Drimys angustifolia is a species of flowering plant in family Winteraceae. It is a shrub or small tree native to the mountains of southern Brazil.
Drimys confertifolia is a species of flowering plant in family Winteraceae. It is native to Juan Fernández Islands off the western coast of South America.
Drimys andina is a species of flowering plant in family Winteraceae. It is native to Chile and Argentina in southern South America.
