Dasyphyllum excelsum facts for kids

Dasyphyllum excelsum is a type of flowering plant that belongs to the Asteraceae family, which is also known as the daisy or sunflower family. In Chile, people call this plant bulli. You can find this plant growing in parts of South America. In Chile, it grows from Quillota to Cauquenes, usually at heights between 190 and 800 meters above sea level. One special place where it grows is in the forests of Cerro La Campana in central Chile. Here, it often grows alongside the endangered Chilean wine palm, called Jubaea chilensis.

What it Looks Like

The bulli plant is an evergreen tree, which means it stays green all year round. It can grow very tall, up to 15 meters (about 50 feet), and its trunk can be more than 2 meters (about 80 inches) wide. Its bark is soft, thin, and brown, with deep cracks running down it. This tree is special because it's one of the few trees in the daisy family.

Its leaves grow in an alternating pattern along the stem. They have smooth edges and are shaped like an oval with a pointed tip that ends in a small spike. The leaves are yellowish-green and measure about 2 to 6 centimeters long and 1 to 2.5 centimeters wide. They are smooth on both sides but have tiny hairs along their edges. The leaf stems, called petioles, are quite short, only 1 to 4 millimeters long.

At the base of each leaf, there are two thorns. These thorns are actually modified stipules, which are small leaf-like parts. They fall off as the plant grows. The plant's white flowers grow in clusters at the ends of the branches. These flower clusters are called inflorescences or Flower heads. Each flower has both male and female parts, meaning it is hermaphrodite. They have five stamens, which are the male parts that produce pollen, with the pollen-producing tips (called anthers) attached.

The fruit of the bulli plant is a small, cylindrical seed called an achene. It's about 3 to 3.5 millimeters long and 1 millimeter wide. The achene is covered in fine hairs and has reddish, feathery bristles, called pappi, that are about 5 millimeters long. These pappi help the seeds float away in the wind.

Where the Name Comes From

The name Dasyphyllum comes from Greek words that mean "hairy leaves." The other part of its scientific name, excelsum, means "tall" or "lofty" in Latin, which makes sense for a tree that can grow so high!

See also

In Spanish: Tayú del norte para niños