Fitzroya
| Fitzroya Temporal range: Late Cretaceous – Holocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Cupressales |
| Family: | Cupressaceae |
| Subfamily: | Callitroideae |
| Genus: | Fitzroya Hook. f. ex Lindl. |
| Species: | F. cupressoides |
| Binomial name | |
| Fitzroya cupressoides | |
| Distribution of F. cupressoides in South-Central Chile (red) | |
Fitzroya is a monotypic genus in the cypress family. The single living species, Fitzroya cupressoides, is a tall, long-lived conifer native to the Andes mountains and coastal regions of southern Chile, and only to the Argentine Andes, where it is an important member of the Valdivian temperate forests. Common names include lawal (in Mapudungun, Hispanicized as lahual), alerce ([aˈleɾse], "larch" in Spanish), and Patagonian cypress. The genus was named in honour of Robert FitzRoy.
The genus is ancient with it dating back to the Cretaceous of South America. Fossils are also known from the Paleogene of Tasmania, Australia (particularly from the now extinct Fitzroya tasmanensis).