Sonchus brassicifolius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Sonchus
Subgenus: Sonchus subg. Dendroseris
Species:
S. brassicifolius
Binomial name
Sonchus brassicifolius
S.C.Kim & Mejías
Synonyms[2]
Single capitulum (one of many) of specimen flowering in Kew Gardens

Sonchus brassicifolius, synonym Dendroseris litoralis, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy and sunflower family Asteraceae.[2] It is a small evergreen tree species known as the cabbage tree. It is endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands,[2] which lie in the southeast Pacific, off the west coast of Chile. It is native only to the tiny, volcanic Robinson Crusoe Island, home of the famed Juania australis and many other endemic plants. The species is threatened by habitat loss and has been brought back from the brink of extinction. It had been reduced to only a few individuals by feral goats on the island, and is still considered critically endangered.[1]

Description

Younger trunks of Sonchus brassicifolius are ringed with pale leaf scars and distinctive rubbery, leathery leaves up to 46 centimetres (18 in) long. It grows into a small, gnarled tree with several somewhat palm-like crowns of very large, ovate leaves on whitish, green-spotted leaf stalks and pendent inflorescences of bright orange, tassel-like 'flowers' (capitula). It is easy to cultivate and enjoys a cool, humid climate. It is hardy to light freezes and California coastal conditions.

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1921 by Carl Skottsberg as Dendroseris litoralis. The genus Dendroseris was considered endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands. In 2012, based on molecular phylogenetic evidence, it was shown that Dendroseris was embedded within the genus Sonchus, and all its species were transferred to that genus, with Dendroseris reduced to a subgenus.[3] As the combination Sonchus litoralis had already been used for a different species, the replacement name Sonchus brassicifolius was published.[3][4]

Edibility

The very large leaves are edible and formed part of the diet of voluntary castaway Alexander Selkirk - the possible inspiration for Daniel Defoe's character Robinson Crusoe - during his sojourn on one of the Juan Fernandez Islands.[5][6]

Hummingbird pollination

The capitula with their large orange corollas are hummingbird pollinated. The nectar composition of Sonchus brassicifolius has large quantities of sucrose (73%), 15% fructose and 10.9% glucose.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1998). "Dendroseris litoralis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1998: e.T30456A9551517. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T30456A9551517.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sonchus brassicifolius S.C.Kim & Mejías". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 Mejías, José A. & Kim, Seung-Chul (2012). "Taxonomic Treatment of Cichorieae (Asteraceae) Endemic to the Juan Fernández and Desventuradas Islands (SE Pacific)" (PDF). Annales Botanici Fennici. 49 (3): 171–178. doi:10.5735/085.049.0303. S2CID 84200128. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  4. "Sonchus brassicifolius S.C.Kim & Mejías". The International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  5. Rogers, Woodes (1712). A Cruising Voyage Round the World: First to the South-Sea, Thence to the East-Indies, and Homewards by the Cape of Good Hope. London: A. Bell.
  6. "Dendroseris litoralis The Cabbage Tree". strangewonderfulthings.com. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  7. Hind, Nicholas; Johnson, Nick (2006). "Dendroseris litoralis. Compositae Plant in Peril 29". Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 23 (4): 314–324. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8748.2006.00546.x.


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