Chemistry of Pouteria splendens and its ecological situation

SOTES GJ; URZÚA A; SEBASTIÁN B

BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMATICS AND ECOLOGY

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2006 vol. 34 p. 338 - 340

0305-1978

On the Chilean littoral rock formations (IV and V Regions) the coast sclerophyll wood is the habitat of Pouteria splendens (A. DC.) Kuntze (Sapotaceae), an endemic evergreen shrub known by the common name of ??Palo Colorado?? (Johow, 1948; Serra et al., 1986). Popularly, this name is attributed to different origins: an orange coloured algae (e.g. Trentepohlia) accumulating on the surface of the plant and which is transported from the sea by the region?s strong winds, the red colour of the fruits and the colour contrast between the reddish conductive elements and the pallid wood exposed when the bark is removed (Johow, 1948). P. splendens is characteristically affected by a complex of fungi known as sooty mold which notoriously invades the surface of its leaves and stems (Kessler, 1992). An important fact is that the population levels of P. splendens have been seriously affected by human activity and it is now considered as a vulnerable species (Squeo et al., 2001). Young and not sooty mold-invaded leaves of P. splendens were collected in April 2005 in Los Molles (V Region, Chile, 32°30'S, 71°30'W). Voucher specimens (SGO-110350) were deposited in the herbarium of National Museum of Natural History, Santiago, Chile