Cryptocarya alba

Abstract: The proximate composition and biological activity of food plants and mushrooms gathered by Chilean Amerindians were assessed. The gathered plants served primarily as sources of carbohydrates with highest values for Dioscorea tubers, Prosopis alba pods meal and Bromus catharticus seeds. The mushrooms Clavaria coralloides and Boletus loyus proved to be the best protein sources in our survey, but deficient in the amino acids methionine and cysteine. Some extracts of the plants and mushrooms under study showed biological activity as free radical scavengers, enzyme inhibitors, hypotensive or DNA binding effect. Free radical scavenging activity was detected in Cryptocarya alba fruit extract, while Typha angustifolia showed a strong DNA binding effect at 0.50 mg/ml. Methanolic extracts of the Apiaceae species Sanicula graveolens and Apium australe were moderately active as β-glucuronidase inhibitors at 50 fig/ml.

Abstract: The development of lignotubers was analyzed in seedlings of representative shrub species of the matorral in central Chile. The lignotuber is evident 3 months after germination in Cryptocarya alba and 4–5 months after germination in Colliguaya odorifera, Satureja gilliesii, and Lithraea caustica. Top removal in adult specimens soon produced formation of shoots as a result of the activation of the root-crown buds. The leaf area growth rates of shoots arising from lignotubers are significantly higher than those of seedlings and normally growing shrubs. The adaptive significance of lignotubers in matorral shrubs is discussed.

Abstract: The roots of matorral shrubs were excavated from an 18 m2 site of a mixed matorral stand located on a 27° NE facing slope at 1000 m elevation 40 km NNW from Santiago de Chile. The climate in this area is similar to that of the Southern Californian chaparral. The main species present were Lithraea caustica, Cryptocarya alba, Colliguaya odorifera, Mutisia retusa, and Satureja gilliesii. After harvesting the above ground biomass, the soil was washed out in 20 cm layers down to a depth of 60 cm. The roots were harvested according to their position in the site, separated into species and root size classes. Soil analysis indicated a fertile and deep reaching, clayish soil. L. caustica was a deep rooting species with many thick roots growing deeper than 60 cm. This species had a massive burl of 67 kg dry weight in the excavation site. Cryptocarya was less deep rooting, and C. odorifera had a shallow root system. It is thought that the root: shoot biomass ratios of 4.9 and 1.4 for L. caustica and C. alba respectively are indicative of the forest character of this site in the past. This forest would have been destroyed by continuous charcoal manufacture. The bulk of the fine roots was found in the 20-40 cm soil layer. The average distance between fine roots was calculated as 1.9 cm. The results were compared with an earlier excavation in the Californian chaparral.

Abstract: A phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear ITS and plastid trnK intron sequences confirms that Dahlgrenodendron , Sinopora , Triadodaphne , and Yasunia are members of the Cryptocarya group, as expected from morphology. Dahlgrenodendron from South Africa is sister to Aspidostemon from Madagascar. Triadodaphne inaequitepala is nested within Endiandra (both from Australasia), and Yasunia from South America is nested among South American Beilschmiedia species. Sinopora is a member of the Beilschmiedia clade, but its precise position is still uncertain. Among large genera of the group, Cryptocarya is clearly monophyletic, and Endiandra appears to be as well, if T. inaequitepala is included. Beilschmiedia is paraphyletic with respect to (at least) Potameia and Yasunia . Most well-supported clades within genera are geographically homogeneous, except a clade including the Chilean Cryptocarya alba and two New Caledonian species. Both Beilschmiedia and Cryptocarya have reached the Americas more than once. Four-locular anthers are plesiomorphic in the Cryptocarya group; two-locular anthers have arisen by fusion of the two pollen sacs of a theca. In the plesiomorphic fruit type, the ovary is completely enclosed in receptacular tissue; a superior fruit, seated free on its pedicel, is a synapomorphy of the Beilschmiedia clade.