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Porlieria chilensis
Also called Chilean Guayacan
Porlieria chilensis is a small, slow-growing shrub or tree from arid central Chile, closely related to the lignum vitae family. The key to growing it is full sun, very little water, and fast-draining soil, as it is adapted to dry, semi-desert conditions.
Porlieria chilensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. It is endemic to Chile, where it is known as Guayacán and palo santo. It is a small tree or shrub, akin to other members of the genus which are all found in South America. It is distributed between the Coquimbo and O'Higgins Regions. An example occurrence of P. chilensis is in the arid forested area of central Chile, where it occurs in association with the endangered Chilean wine palm, Jubaea chilensis.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Porlieria chilensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
