PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Hoja y corteza.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Vulnerario, antineurálgico dental.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Up to the present only 1 seed fat of the Proteaceae family has been investigated, i.e. that of the Australian Macadamia ternifolia (Bridge and Hilditch, CA 45, 370c). The physicochem. characteristics and fatty acid compns. of the seed oils of Gevuina avellana, Lomatia hirsuta, and Embothrium coccineum have now been studied. These oils are rich in hexadecenoic acid, as is M. ternifolia. G. avellana, L. hirsuta, and E. coccineum have I nos. (Hanus) of 87.7, 86.3, and 84.0; sapon. nos. of 188.6, 197.4, and 206.0; acidity nos. (mg. KOH/g.) of 1.1, 59.7, and 16.4; and unsaponfiable matter of 0.94, 1.42, and 1.50%, resp. The component fatty acids are caproic, caprylic, capric, and lauric 0.1, 0.2, and 1.9; myristic 0.3, 0.2, and 0.3; palmitic 3.7, 11.6, and 7.9; stearic 0.8, 1.6, and 0.9, arachidic 1.6, 0.7, and 0.1; behenic 1.9, 0.0, and 0.0; lignoceric 0.2, 0.0, and 0.0; tetradecenoic 0.0, 0.0, and 2.3; hexadecenoic 22.0, 22.8, and 23.1; oleic 37.0, 50.4, and 45.7; linoleic 11.2, 11.5, and 11.8; eicosenoic 11.5, 1.0, and 2.5; docosenoic 9.3, 0.0, and 0.0; tetracosenoic 0.4, 0.0, and 0.0, and hydroxy acids calcd. as monohydroxy myristic 0.0, 0.0, and 3.8, resp.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: S de Chile y Argentina. 

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs:

Allozyme electrophoresis was used to measure and compare, with other members of the Proteaceae, levels and distribution of genetic diversity in Embothrium coccineum J.R.Forst., a widespread outcrossing species endemic of Andean Patagonian forests. We analysed variation at the species level by sampling 34 populations along its entire range of ∼20° latitude. We tested the hypothesis of multiple Pleistocene refugia by phylogeographic methods. We resolved 16 isozyme loci assayed in 934 adult trees. At the species level, total genetic diversity (HT = 0.220) was similar to that of other outcrossed and widespread plant species. Genetic parameters (N A, PSS, HE) were not statistically different from other outcrossed but mostly range-restricted Proteaceae, reflecting a strong phylogenetic imprinting for species sharing life-history traits. Populations are genetically divergent among each other (FST = 0.202). The low correlation between geographic and genetic distances suggests separate histories, i.e. multiple glacial refugia for the cold-tolerant E. coccineum. Phylogeographic trees produced different topologies, although maximum likelihood and parsimony trees shared some elements. Both trees suggest a northern and central clade, and then a separate southern clade. Current processes such as gene flow and selection confound the historic signal. These results seem in contrast to many of the northern hemisphere post-glacial phylogeographic reconstructions which show clear historical tracks of northern range expansion from southern refugia. The present study highlights the importance of phylogenetic imprinting, life-history traits and historical events driving genetic diversity patterns in this widespread Proteaceae from southern South America. © CSIRO 2007.

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín. Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica. Buenos Aires : Hemisferio Sur, 1980, p.106.

2) CATTANEO, P., et al. Chemical composition of fatty acids of the seeds of Argentine Proteaceae Anales de la Asociación Química Argentina.1962, vol. 50, nº1.

3) SOUTO, C.P.; PREMOLI, A.C. Genetic variation in the widespread Embothrium coccineum (Proteaceae) endemic to Patagonia: Effects of phylogeny and historical events. Australian Journal of Botany. 2007,vol.55, nº8, 809-817.