Species of Polylepis in Ecuador

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María Claudia Segovia-Salcedo

P. lanuginosa  (endemic)

Paramo de los Soldados. AZUAY Zhud, Cañar.

Trees  or shrubs with large and broad leaflets. Densely lanose. Long and straight trichomes.

• DISTRIBUTION: Restricted to central and Southern Ecuador.
• COMMON NAMES: "Quiñal", "quiñua colorada"

P. incana

Illinizas Páramo de la Virgen-Pichincha Hacienda el Inga Alto-Pichincha

Trees of Shrubs. Leaves and racemes covered by short and twisted glandular hairs.  3- foliate leaves.

• DISTRIBUTION:  Central Ecuador to Southern  Peru.
• COMMON NAME: "Palo colorado"

P. weberbaueri

Cañar-Culebrillas lake road

Shrubs or small trees. Leaves very congested at the end of the branches. Margin of leaflets without sericeous hairs.

• DISTRIBUTION: Central Ecuador to Northern of Peru
• COMMON NAME: "Quiñua"

P. pauta

Páramo de la Virgen. Pichincha Trunks and flowers Mojanda Pichincha-Imbabura

Trees. Leaflets ovate or oblong and crenate. Pubescence of the lower surface restricted to the veins.

• DISTRIBUTION: Northern part of Ecuador

• COMMON NAME: "Pauta"

P. reticulata 

Road to Oyacachi-Pichincha El Cajas-Azuay El Arbol de Piedra-Chimborazo

Trees. Leafleats oblong and margin revolute. Pannose lower leaflet surface. Margin of leaflets with sericeous hairs.

• DISTRIBUTION: North and Southern Ecuador
• COMMON NAME: "quiñua", "yagual"

P.sericea

Yanacocha-Pichincha Loja – Fierro Urco

Trees or shrubs.  Narrow and elliptic leaflets with the lower surface sericeous.

• DISTRIBUTION: Venezuela to Central Bolivia.

• COMMON NAMES: "Coloradito", "keshua", "quiñua"

    P. microphylla  -

Trees or shrubs. 3- 6 pair of leaflets. Leaflets oblong or obovate. Densely congested  at the tip of  the branches. Lower surface of leaflets densely villous.

• DISTRIBUTION: Restricted to Chimborazo- Ecuador and Cusco-Peru
• COMMON NAME: " junna"

P. racemosa (Introduced)

Road Oyacachi. Pichincha. El Tambo Cañar.

The Peruvian species had been introduced since 2000 aprox. by Ministry of Agriculture, INEFAN, CREA and Sectional Governments. P. racemosa is distributed in the Ecuadorian Highlands especially in Imbabura, Carchi, Azuay and Cañar provinces. Only Loja hasn’t P. racemosa . Its effect on the Ecuadorian Species hasn’t be studied yet.

REFERENCES

• Romoleroux, K. 1996. Rosaceae. Pp. 50-95 In Flora of Ecuador, eds. Gunna Herling and L. Andersson. Council for Nordic Publications in Botany.
• Simpson, B. 1979. A revision of the genus Polylepis  (Rosaceae: Sanguisorbeae). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 43: 1-62.

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Last update 08/11/2008

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