Thursday 10 May 2012

Austrocedrus


Austrocedrus is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, Austrocedrus chilensis, native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and the adjacent drier steppe-forests of central-southern Chile and western Argentina from 33°S to 44°S latitude. It is known in its native area as Ciprés de la Cordillera or Cordilleran Cypress, and elsewhere by the scientific name as Austrocedrus, or sometimes as Chilean Incense-cedar or Chilean Cedar.The generic name means "southern cedar".

It is a member of subfamily Callitroideae, a group of distinct southern hemisphere genera associated with the Antarctic flora. It is closely related to the New Zealand and New Caledonian genus Libocedrus, and some botanists treat it within this genus, as Libocedrus chilensis, though it resembles Libocedrus less than the other South American cypress genus Pilgerodendron does.