The generic nameCrinodendron a compound of the Ancient Greek words κρίνον and δένδρον, the "lily" element being inspired by the white-flowered C. patagua. The specific namehookerianum honours William Jackson Hooker, an English botanist who studied many Chilean plants. The genus Crinodendron is a small one, containing only four species, the other two being C. tucumanum Lillo, a 25m tree native to Argentina, and the Brazilian C. brasiliense Reitz & L.B.sm.
The plant has several names, derived from the native language of the Mapuche people and colonial Spanish, the most common of which is chaquihue. Others include the variant forms chequehue and chaquehua, polizón,polisones, copío, coicopío and patagua roja.
Description
Crinodendron hookerianum is a shrub or small tree with ash-grey bark reaching up to in height and having a trunk up to in diameter. Leaves alternate, lanceolate with toothed edges and acute, petiolate, 4–7 cm long and 0.7-1.8 cm wide, dark green above and hairy whitish green below. Flowers hermaphrodite, solitary and axillary, pinkish to red. pedicels circa 3–6 cm long, the calyx formed of 5 fused, green sepals, corolla campanulate, composed of 5 free petals terminating in 3 teeth, stamens 15-18, the style longer than the stamen. Fruit a white, pubescent, leathery capsule with 3 to 5 valves. Seeds ovoid, glossy.
The plant is somewhat poisonous, its toxicity referable to its containing cucurbitacins, a class of cytotoxic triterpenoids named for their frequent occurrence in genera of the cucumber and gourd familyCucurbitaceae, such as Bryonia. Contact with the sap of plants containing high levels of cucurbitacins can lead to skin inflammation and blistering, while consumption of plant material containing such compounds can lead to gastrointestinal irritation with vomiting and bloody diarrhoea, tachycardia and damage to the liver and kidneys, the poisoning sometimes proving fatal. C. hookerianum is used in the folk medicine of Chile as an emmenagogue and abortifacient and the leaves and bark are considered to have emetic properties. Although toxic, the shrub is also regarded as "balsamic" a rather vague designation referable to its medicinal value and aromatic constituents.
Crinodendron hookerianum will only thrive in colder areas in a sheltered woodland garden or against a south-facing or west-facing wall, tolerating an exposed site only in mild areas. It can also make a fitting subject for the cool greenhouse or conservatory, under which conditions it will flower earlier. It is hardy to -7 °C. It should be grown in fertile, moist but well-drained, humus-rich, acid soil in partial shade. It should be sheltered from cold, drying winds. Young growth and flower buds are susceptible to damage by hard frosts - the latter especially so, owing to the plants unusual behaviour in producing small flower buds in Autumn which ripen gradually into the mature flowers of the following Summer. Although the only pruning generally required in colder areas is the removal of dead wood in late Spring, in milder areas in a light woodland environment it can even be clipped to make a wind-break. Vegetative propagation is by greenwood cuttings in early Summer or semi-ripe-wood cuttings in late Summer. With regard to pests and diseases the plant is generally trouble-free. Maximum dimensions in cultivation approximately 8m in height by 5m in spread.
