Balsamocarpon Clos in C. Gay, Fl. Chile. 2(2): 226. 1846 (publ. 1847).

Figs 36, 43

Type.

Balsamocarpon brevifolium Clos

Description.

Shrub to 2 m tall, with 3-5 mm long, deflexed or patent, woody, nodal, often paired, sometimes caducous, woody spines. Stipules deltoid, glandular, caducous. Leaves pinnate, in fascicles on short brachyblasts; leaflets in 3-4 pairs, glabrous, fleshy. Inflorescence a short raceme. Flowers bisexual, sub-zygomorphic; a short hypanthium persisting (sometimes with the sepals still attached) and tightly adhering to the base of the fruit as it matures; sepals 5, fimbriate; petals 5, free, yellow, with glandular trichomes on the dorsal surface; stamens 10, free, filaments pubescent; ovary glandular and finely pubescent. Fruit thick, turgid, resinous, glandular, and indehiscent, 3-4-seeded. Seeds round, orange-brown.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Included species and geographic distribution.

Monospecific ( B. brevifolium), endemic to northern Chile, from the Coquimbo and La Serena valleys (Fig. 43).

Ecology.

Desert scrub, rocky hillsides.

Etymology.

From balsamo - (Greek = balsam) and carpos (Greek = fruit), the fruits yield a sticky resin traditionally used for tanning.

Human uses.

Fruit resin used in the tanning industry, and wood locally used for charcoal production and as firewood ( Estévez et al. 2010).

Notes.

Over-exploitation and increased fragmentation of the remaining populations of B. brevifolium mean that the species is vulnerable to extinction (Arancio and Marticorena 2008).

Taxonomic references.

Burkart (1940); Gagnon et al. (2016); Lewis (2005b); Nores et al. (2012); Ulibarri (1996, 2008).