2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Fitzroya - evergreen coniferous tree, which is one of the representatives of the Cypress family. It can be both monoecious and dioecious. This plant got its interesting name in honor of the captain of the huge ship "Beagle" named Robert Fitzroy. It was this ship that set off in 1831 on an incredibly exciting five-year round-the-world expedition together with the great scientist of all times and peoples, Charles Darwin.
Description
Fitzroy is an evergreen coniferous tree that has gained fame as one of the tallest South American trees - its height can not only reach fifty meters, but also exceed this figure! And this tree also has incredibly thick trunks - in some specimens, their diameter can be equal to five meters! The average diameter of the trunks is approximately 1.25 m.
The bark of this tree is usually brown, and the thin green twigs of the fitzroy form luxurious openwork crowns, almost always having a pyramidal shape. Fitzroy's leaves are whorled, scaly.
Fitzroy is not only a slow-growing, but also a very long-lived tree: the age of the oldest specimen is as much as 3600 years (it was possible to establish it in the most traditional way - by tree rings)! In addition, this is one of the oldest tree species on our vast planet: Fitzroy is almost the same age as the mammoth tree and the luxurious bristlecone intermountain pine!
At the moment, Fitzroy is represented by one and only species - Cypress Fitzroy.
Where grows
Fitzroy, originating from Northern Patagonia, is quite widespread in Argentina and southern Chile. Most often it can be seen in regions characterized by a fairly high annual rainfall. As a rule, it grows in huge coniferous forests, mossy and damp. In most cases, these forests are located on swampy plains, although sometimes they can also be found in mountainous regions. Fitzroy was also introduced in the distant British Isles, but there its height is extremely rarely more than twenty meters.
Usage
The soft yet strong reddish-brownish wood of the Fitzroyi boasts impressive resistance to decay. Its uniform small texture without the slightest defects is due to the rather slow growth of this unusual tree and is somewhat reminiscent of the wood of the notorious giant thuja. And the average density of such wood is about 510 kg per cubic meter. It has always yielded well to machining, only slightly dulling the cutting edges used for this purpose. Such valuable qualities made it possible to use Fitzroy wood for the manufacture of furniture and decoration of a wide variety of structures. And the bark was quite actively used as tow in the process of building wooden ships and their subsequent repair.
Too active harvesting of this amazing tree at the beginning of the twentieth century led to the fact that the Fitzroy was on the verge of extinction. At the same time, the most severe damage was caused to the once dense and practically impassable forest areas located in the coastal lowlands. That is why, in Chile, the harvesting of such wood has been prohibited since 1977, moreover, local laws prohibit citizens from using even wood taken from already dead trees. In addition, the beautiful Fitzroy was included in the I list of CITES, that is, international trade in this tree is now completely banned.
