Scalesia pedunculata
| Scalesia pedunculata | |
|---|---|
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| Scalesia pedunculata on Santa Cruz (Galapagos Islands) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Heliantheae |
| Genus: | Scalesia |
| Species: | S. pedunculata |
| Binomial name | |
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Scalesia pedunculata Hook.f. |
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Scalesia pedunculata Hook.f. is a member of the Daisy family or Asteraceae, growing to a slender tree (20m tall, DBH 20 cm), and found in dense stands on the humid windward coasts of the islands of Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, Santiago and Floreana in the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos archipelago lies in the southeast trade wind zone, so that climate and weather are dominated by the moisture-bearing trade winds and the topography of the islands. In general, the windward sides of the islands have a much higher precipitation than the leeward sides. Scalesia pedunculata is regarded as vulnerable because of human encroachment, invasive introduced plant species such as Cedrela odorata and Psidium guajava, and grazing by introduced goats. Fires and cutting for fuel are also contributory problems, though the tree's wood is soft, with a large, pithy centre.
Charles Darwin first collected specimens of this species from Santiago Island ('James Island') in October 1835 on the voyage of the Beagle, and it was later named by his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, who described it as 'frutescens' (becoming a shrub) as he thought that Darwin had made a mistake in calling it a tree, since members of the Daisy family rarely attain such a size. The genus Scalesia comprises 9 species, with another 5 still unassessed and all endemic to the Galapagos Islands, three of which attain tree size viz. Scalesia pedunculata, S. cordata and S. microcephala, all three forming dense forests. The name Scalesia resulted from a blunder by Arnott who named it in honour of "W. Scales Esq., Cawdor Castle, Elginshire" but discovered after publication in 1836 that the name should have read 'Stables', after Scottish botanist William Alexander Stables (1810-21 June 1890), who contributed to botanical literature and was the factor or property manager of John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor.
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