Introduction

Abstract

The idea underlying the present book was: to provide amateurs as well as naturalists with a guide enabling them to identify the native tree species of Argentine Patagonia (comprising the large area from the Río Colorado to the south) and Chilean Patagonia (taken from Valdivia southwards), as well as about 95% of the arboreal species introduced into these regions. As far as the text is concerned, a few explanatory remarks may be helpful:

• Native species and cultivated pines have received a somewhat more detailed description than the introduced, largely ornamental species. The criterion was to foster the knowledge of the native trees and of those species employed for extensive afforestations.

• The keys for the identification lead to groups which encompass a maximum of 12 genera or species. Within these groups, the illustrations and the descriptions should easily allow to determine the plant in question.

• The entries on the toxicity and the uses in medicine are very concise and held in general terms; readers are referred to the works by Harborne et al. (1999), van Wyk and Wink (2004), Chevallier (2001), Roth et al. (1994), and E.H. Rapoport et al. (2003, 2005), respectively.

• Remarks on the use of the wood and on other uses are based on various sources and on personal observations and experience.

• Regarding the photographs of the introduced Species, a further remark is necessary: Many of these trees, above all ornamental species, are often pruned in a way or kept under conditions that do not allow them to develop to their full size. In some cases, I was not able to find in Patagonia specimens with a really characteristic and photogenic crown. I then chose to insert photographs showing the shape of mature trees of these species growing in other regions of the world. The photographs of the leaves and barks, however, have almost exclusively been taken from Patagonian trees.