Asteraceae

Subfamily Asteriodeae
Tribe Astereae

Dendroseris litoralis Skottsberg

Description: Dendroseris litoralis, a palm-like pachycaul, is a member of the lettuce tribe of the Asteraceae. It is endemic to the Juan Fernandez Islands, about 400 miles west off the coast of Chile. In fact, all 12 species in this genus are endemic to the Juan Fernandez. The genus is very unusual in being woody, or semi-woody. This species is of special interest because it was as near extinction as one can get - down to about three individuals in nature in the early 1980's.
Dendroseris litoralis is now the street 'tree' in San Juan Bautista, the only town on the islands. It is also now grown in a few botanical gardens around the world. It produces very large heads of orange flowers that are a) hummingbird pollinated, and very important sources of nectar for them where they grow, and b) is very likely self compatible, and perhaps even self pollinated, so seed set is pretty good.
They are sometimes referred to as 'cabbage trees' because of the concentration of the very large and unusual leaves at the tips of the branches.

Personal communication with Dr. Greg Anderson (UConn), collector of this accession