Chuquiraga Explained

Chuquiraga is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.^{[1] [2] [3]} The genus is distributed in the Andes from Colombia to Chile, with most species occurring in Patagonia.^[2]

These are evergreen shrubs. They have many shapes and sizes of leaves, and two general types of flowers apparently adapted for pollination by hummingbirds and insects.^[4] Some species occur at elevations over 4000 meters in the Andes, while others can be found at sea level.^[5]

Many are of ecological importance because they are dominant plant species in very dry habitat types, and local animals depend on them.^[6] Hummingbirds of the genus Oreotrochilus, the hillstars, rely heavily on these plants, and some species have never been observed on any other plant taxa.^[7]

Some species have been used as fuel, as traditional medicines, and as ornamental plants.^[6]

Species

Notes and References

1. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5437410#page/273/mode/1up Jussieu, Antoine Laurent de. 1789. Genera Plantarum 178
2. Chuquiraga Juss. Arboles y arbustos de los Andes del Ecuador. eFloras.
3. Book: Kadereit, J. W. and C. Jeffrey . 2007 . Flowering plants: Eudicots; Asterales . 8 . The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants . . 978-3-540-31050-1 . Chuquiraga Juss. . 90 . Anderberg, A. A. . https://books.google.com/books?id=VhUZnM8S47IC&pg=PA90. etal.
4. Ezcurra, C. (2002). Phylogeny, morphology, and biogeography of Chuquiraga, an Andean-Patagonian genus of Asteraceae-Barnadesioideae. The Botanical Review 68(1), 153-70.
5. Ezcurra, C., et al. (1997). Phylogeny of Chuquiraga sect. Acanthophyllae (Asteraceae-Barnadesioideae), and the evolution of its leaf morphology in relation to climate. Systematic Botany 22(1), 151-63.
6. Hoeneisen, M., et al. (2000). Constituents of Chuquiraga atacamensis and C. ulicina. Boletín de la Sociedad Chilena de Química 45(1), 49-52.
7. Bleiweiss, R. (1982). The northern limit of the hummingbird genus Oreotrochilus in South America. The Auk 99(2), 376-78.