Revision of the genus of Gaultheria L. (Ericaceae) in Chile

• Main Authors: TEILLIER, SEBASTIÁN, ESCOBAR, FELIPE
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad de Concepción, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas 2013
• Subjects: Gaultheria; Ericaceae; flora de Chile; flora of Chile; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://revistas.udec.cl/index.php/gayana_botanica/article/view/3910

A review of Gaultheria L. has been made through taxonomic methods. Specimens and documents from SGO and CONC herbariums, as well as different institution’s web sites containing pictures of specimens, are reviewed in this document. It was concluded that Chile has several complexities regarding Gaultheria: hundreds of names have been proposed by botanists; species complexes with wide foliar variation, such as G. mucronata, G. poeppigii and G. racemulosa; intermediate taxa among species (putative hybrids) and indistinguishable taxa in the absence of fruits (G. phyllireifolia-G. mucronata). As a conclusion, we propose 12 species and one variety accepted in Chile: G. angustifolia, G. antarctica, G. cespitosa, G. insana, G. mucronata, G. nubigena, G. phyllireifolia, G. poeppigii, G. pumila, G. pumila var. leucocarpa, G. racemulosa, G. renjifoana and G. tenuifolia. G. renjifoana is being maintained, even though this endangered species had been considered as synonymous with G. insana. We reinstate G. angustifolia, a species which differs from G. mucronata on the basis of habitat and geographic distribution. Finally it is underlined that G. nubigena should be protected due to its narrow distribution. Se realizó una revisión del género Gaultheria L. (Ericaceae) presente en Chile, utilizando los métodos clásicos. Se tuvieron a la vista los tipos y las colecciones de los herbarios SGO y CONC, además de los sitios WEB de instituciones que contienen fotos de tipos o isotipos. Se concluyó que Gaultheria es un género que en Chile presenta varias complejidades: una centena de nombres propuestos por los científicos botánicos de todos los tiempos, taxa complejos con amplísima variación en la morfología foliar como G. mucronata, G. poeppigii y G. racemulosa, taxa intermedios entre especies (posibles híbridos) y taxa indistinguibles en ausencia de frutos (G. phyllireifolia-G. mucronata). Como conclusión de la revisión se aceptan para Chile 12 especies y una variedad: G. angustifolia, G. antarctica, G. cespitosa, G. insana, G. ...