Ochagavia
Ochagavia is a plant genus in the plant family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, endemic to central and southern Chile. It comprises four recognized species—Ochagavia andina, Ochagavia carnea, Ochagavia elegans, and Ochagavia litoralis—which inhabit a range of environments from coastal cliffs to montane forests. Species of Ochagavia are caulescent and rosette-forming, with succulent, spiny leaves and simple terminal inflorescences bearing rose-colored flowers. The group exhibits adaptations to xeric habitats, and one species, Ochagavia elegans, is endemic to Robinson Crusoe Island in the Juan Fernández Islands. The genus is named after Silvestre Ochagavía, a Chilean lawyer and minister of education from the 19th century.
Taxonomy
The genus Ochagavia was first described in 1856 by Rodolfo Amando Philippi and named in honor of Silvestre Ochagavía, who served as Chile's Minister of Education from 1853 to 1854. Ochagavia elegans was the sole species included in the original description and serves as the type species of the genus. A second description by Philippi later that year was published to reach a European readership. The genus Ochagavia also includes the historical synonyms Rhodostachys Philippi, Ruckia Regel, and Placseptalia Espinosa.In 1857, Philippi proposed a new genus, Rhodostachys, which was later recognized by John Gilbert Baker, who treated both Ochagavia and Rhodostachys as valid genera. Baker placed species now classified under Fascicularia in Rhodostachys, differentiating them from Ochagavia based on sepal morphology: Ochagavia species have acute or acuminate sepals without keels, whereas Fascicularia species have keeled sepals with obtuse or rounded apices.
In his 1896 monograph of Bromeliaceae, Carl Christian Mez subsumed Ochagavia under Rhodostachys, describing an additional species, R. chamissonis. However, Smith and Looser reinstated Ochagavia as the correct name based on priority, transferring R. chamissonis to Ochagavia along with Ochagavia elegans and Ochagavia carnea. Mez later adopted this reclassification in his 1935 account in Das Pflanzenreich.
Description
Species of Ochagavia are caulescent, rosulate terrestrial herbs with succulent leaves. The leaves are spinose-serrulate, forming rosettes but generally lacking the water-holding tanks found in other bromeliads. Represented by four accepted species, Ochagavia species are native to central Chile, between 31°33' and 38°14'S, in Mediterranean climate zones. Some have naturalized in oceanic European climates such as Tresco in the Isles of Scilly, England.Ochagavia species are morphologically similar to the monotypic genus Fascicularia in terms of leaf anatomy. They can be distinguished by floral morphology, habitat, and distribution range.
Inflorescences are simple and terminal, globose to ovoid or capitate, and borne on short peduncles. Flowers are bisexual, actinomorphic, and sessile, with three free sepals and three free, rose-colored petals lacking appendages. The epigynous tube is a key diagnostic trait, varying in length among species. Stamens are typically exserted, except in Ochagavia elegans. Fruits are indehiscent berries containing numerous flattened, rugose, dark brown to black seeds. The reported chromosome number for Ochagavia carnea is 2n = 50.