Embothrium coccineum

Embothrium coccineum
Flower of Chilean Firetree.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Genus:	Embothrium
Species:	E. coccineum
Binomial name
Embothrium coccineum J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.

Chilean firetree, Chilean firebush, Notro in Spanish (Embothrium coccineum), is a small evergreen tree in the family Proteaceae. It grows in the temperate forests of Chile and Argentina.

It produces deep red flowers (occasionally pale yellow) which group in clusters; blooming occurs in spring. The fruit is a dry follicle, with about 10 seeds inside.

Scene carved on a piece of "Notro" wood

It grows 4–15 m (13–50 ft) tall and can reach 50 cm (20 in) in diameter. The bark is dark grey with light spots. Its wood is light pink color, and besides for being very soft but durable, is used for elaborating spoons, kitchen vessels and another craft articles.

It is grown as an ornamental in Great Britain and the United States, and as far north as Faroe Islands at 62º North latitude.

The plant was introduced to Europe by William Lobb during his plant collecting expedition to the Valdivian temperate rain forests in 1845–1848. It was described by Kew Gardens as:

"Perhaps no tree cultivated in the open air in the British Isles gives so striking and brilliant a display as this does."^[1]

Chilean firetree

References

1. ^ Quoted in Sue Shephard (2003). Seeds of Fortune - A Gardening Dynasty. Bloomsbury. p. 100. ISBN 0-7475606-6-8. 

External links

• "Embothrium coccineum". Encyclopedia of Chilean Flora. http://www.florachilena.cl/Niv_tax/Angiospermas/Ordenes/Proteales/Proteaceae/Notro/Notro.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
• "Embothrium coccineum". Chilebosque. http://www.chilebosque.cl/tree/ecocc.html. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
• "Notro in Crarae Gardens, Scotland". Crarae Garden. http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/19/WhatToSee/. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
• Chilean Fire-tree description by Arthur Lee Jacobson