Lapageria
| Lapageria rosea | |
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| Copihue in flower | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Philesiaceae |
| Genus: | Lapageria |
| Species: | L. rosea |
| Binomial name | |
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Lapageria rosea Ruiz & Pav. |
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| Distribution area of Lapageria rosea | |
| Synonyms | |
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Lapageria is a genus of flowering plants with only one known species, Lapageria rosea, commonly known as Chilean bellflower or copihue (co-pee-way < Mapudungun kopiwe).Lapageria rosea is the national flower of Chile. It grows in forests in the southern part of Chile, being part of the Valdivian temperate rain forests flora.
Lapageria rosea is related to Philesia magellanica (syn. P. buxifolia), another plant from the Valdivian flora, having similar flowers, but shrubby rather than climbing. ×Philageria veitchii is a hybrid between L. rosea and P. magellanica. It is more similar in appearance to the former.
Lapageria rosea is an evergreen climbing plant reaching over 10 m high among shrubs and trees. The leaves are arranged alternately and are evergreen, leathery, lanceolate and feature three to seven prominent parallel veins. The vines twine counterclockwise in the Southern hemisphere and clockwise when grown in the Northern hemisphere (likely due to the Sun).
The flowers have six thick, waxy tepals which are red, spotted with white. They are most frequently produced in late summer and fall, although they may be produced at other times. The fruit is an elongated berry with a tough skin containing numerous small seeds about the size of a tomato seed, which are covered in an edible fleshy aril. In the wild the plant is pollinated by hummingbirds.
Pollen is distributed by birds, insects and other animals. Insect pollinators include: Bombus dahlbomii (native species to southern South America) and Bombus terrestris and Bombus ruderatus (both of which are not native to southern South America, and, instead, invasive).
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