Philesia magellanica Gmel.

The discovery of Philesia magellanica can be traced back to the early days of European exploration of the southernmost part of South America. This began over 500 years ago when, in 1520, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) discovered the Straits that now bear his name. However, botanical exploration here did not begin until more than 150 years later, in 1690, when George Handisyd (fl. 1695), surgeon aboard the British freebooter Welfare (Moore 1983), made a handful of botanical collections from Port Gee in Tierra del Fuego. This place name cannot be traced but it is thought likely to have been Puerto Galant, on the north side of the Straits where Handisyd’s other collecting locations are to be found (Moore 1983). The next documented botanical activity was not until 1767 when Philibert Commerson (1727–1773), a doctor of medicine, botanist and naturalist to the King of France, made collections from the northern shore of the Straits of Magellan on the nearby Isla Isabel. Here he found P. magellanica, which was the first scientific discovery of the species. As a remarkable aside, Commerson was accompanied by his mistress Jeanne Baré (1740 –1807) who was disguised as a man and acted as his nurse and scientific assistant. Baré became the first woman to undertake a voyage of circumnavigation of the world.

Soon after Commerson’s visit, other expeditions skirted the perilous southern South American coastline. Amongst the most notable was Captain James Cook’s (1728–1779) first epic voyage of discovery to the Pacific and Southern Oceans from 1768 to 1771. After crossing the vast South Pacific Ocean in 1769, he navigated HMS Endeavour down the coast of southern Chile, carefully transiting the notoriously dangerous waters around Cape Horn, and finally reaching the easternmost point of Tierra del Fuego where he anchored off Bahía Beun Suceso (Bay of Success). It was here that the ship’s famous botanists, Joseph Banks (1743–1820) and Daniel Solander (1733–1782), a student of Linnaeus, ventured into the hinterland and encountered a remarkable flora growing in some of the harshest conditions. In his journal Banks writes “… probably no botanist has ever enjoyed more pleasure in the contemplation of his favourite pursuit than Dr Solander and myself among these plants; we have not yet examined many of them, but what we have have turned out in general so entirely different from any before described that we are never tired with wondering at the infinite variety of creation, and admiring the infinite care with which providence has multiplied his productions suiting them no doubt to the various climates for which they were designed” (Banks (ed) 1896).

Typically the Nothofagus betuloides forests Banks and Solander explored were growing on shallow, peaty soils with P. magellanica occurring alongside Empetrum rubrum and becoming sub-dominant in the more open areas of the forest floor (Moore 1983). They will likely have also encountered the associated species Berberis ilicifolia, Lebtanthus myrsinites and the fern Lomariocycas magellanicia (perhaps with well-developed trunks) and if they ventured into the nearby Magellanic moorland then they will have come across P. magellanica occurring in a sparse scrub vegetation with prostrate individuals of Drimys winteri, Embothrium coccineum, Escallonia serrata, Nothofagus antarctica and N. betuloides (Moore 1983).

It was not until 1847 that the first plants were collected and introduced to cultivation in the UK by William Lobb, working for the horticultural enterprise Messrs Veitch & Sons. Little detail is recorded of exactly where the collection was made but it is likely to have come from the environs of Valdivia in southern Chile, which is the northern limit for the distribution of P. magellanica. Indeed this is where Thomas Bridges (1807–1865) had recorded it growing at the summit of the cordilleras in marshy places under trees of Fitzroya cupressoides (Curtis 1853). Richard Pearce (c. 1835–1868), also working for Veitch, makes mention of it during his visit to Chile in 1860 when exploring the Andes, and he again records it growing with Fitzroya (Veitch 1906). Certainly, Fitzroya forests are a classic habitat for P. magellanica where it is often seen sprawling across the forest floor or climbing, by the use of rhizomatous quil-like stems which pierce and the coarse fibrous bark of Fitzroya trees (pers. obs.). As a scandent plant it usually reaches 2 to 3 m in height but in extreme cases it has been noted to grow 10 m up into the canopy of trees (Diego Alarcón, pers. comm. 2023). Like so many of the temperate rainforest species in Chile, P. magellanica has a considerable altitudinal range from sea level to 900 m and within this range it can occur in dense shade or in relatively open places with water seepage; wherever it occurs the crucial habitat requirement is moisture (pers. obs.).

Since its introduction Philesia magellanica has proved to be a treasured garden plant and it is now cultivated in many public and private gardens throughout the temperate parts of the world. In the UK and Ireland it favours the wetter and cooler climate of the western seaboard where some fine specimens can be found throughout Cornwall, the south-west coast of Devon and on the west coast of Scotland where it can form extensive carpets in moist woodland conditions or growing up moss-covered tree trunks. The extensive sprawling plant growing at Logan Botanic Garden, SW Scotland, dates back to 1950 and proves that Philesia is happy growing on a rocky substrate in open conditions, provided rainfall is sufficient. This plant grows in a very dry part of the garden and relies heavily on the 1.1 m of rain Logan receives each year (Richard Baines, pers. comm. September 2025). In contrast, the notable specimen at Baravalla Gardens in Argyll & Bute, is growing in woodland shade where it covers the trunk of a neighbouring tree. At Arduaine Garden near Oban a plant has flourished for many years on a partially exposed volcanic dyke where the soil is rich in organic matter and based with an underlying substrate of grit (Mark Brent, pers. comm. September 2025). At Bodnant Garden in North Wales there is a substantial specimen growing in a shady location at the foot of a fine tree of Rehderodendron macrocarpum (Ned Lomax, pers. comm. September 2025).

Philesia magellanica is commonly cultivated in Ireland and one of the best specimens is at Mount Usher, Wicklow. It measured about 8 m across in the mid-1980s and its vigorous growth had to be accommodated by closing an adjacent woodland path (John Anderson, pers. comm. August 2025). Meticulous records show that this plant was accessioned in 1888 as the old lead label (A-104) indicates a very early planting; the Walpole family, who originally owned the garden, started accessioning alphabetically, commencing with the letter A. Other good specimens can be found across the Island of Ireland including Mount Stewart and Rowallane, both in Co. Down, Northern Ireland and at Glenveagh Garden in Donegal (John Anderson, pers. comm. August 2025).

This species is also cultivated in other parts of the world that combine relatively mild winters, cool summers, and high levels of precipitation, for example in the Pacific Northwest of North America and in parts of Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand it is relatively common in gardens around Dunedin, including Dunedin Botanic Garden itself and on the rock garden at nearby Larnach Castle where, like at Logan in Scotland, abundant precipitation is crucial. A second fine example at Larnach Castle grows in an old toilet cistern affixed to a wall of the castle! (Tom Christian, pers. comm. 2025). There are also records of it growing in Tasmania in the garden of Ken and Lesley Gillanders at Woodbank Nursery (Miles 2000).

The easiest method of propagation is from seed, which needs to be collected as soon as the fruit becomes ripe and for best germination results they should be given a six week cold treatment in a refrigerator. A moisture retentive mix should be used for sowing and ideally the pot should be enclosed in a ziplock bag to maintain high humidity and then kept at a temperature of 15–23°C. The seeds will start to germinate sporadically between 2 to 12 months. Seedlings are exceedingly slow-growing and should not be transplanted until they are 1–2 years old (Strange Wonderful Things 2025). Experience with vegetative propagation is mixed: although the suckers appear to be an easy option they rarely succeed and layering the shoots is a more reliable way to obtain rooted plants. Taking semi-ripe cuttings in summer can have some success; in the south of England, Rod White has achieved 80% rooting of semi-ripe cuttings in a closed case with bottom heat and treated with hormone, but rooted cuttings are very slow to grow on (R. White pers. comm. 2025; pers. obs.).

The local name of Philesia magellanica is coicopihue or copihue chilote (from Chiloé Island). It is also known by the diminutives copihuelos and pichi-copihue, due to its smaller flowers compared with those of the copihue (Lapageria rosea). Pichi means ‘small’ in Mapudungun, the native language of the Mapuche people. In Chile, the plant has several traditional uses. Its sweet fruit pulp can be eaten, while different preparations of the whole plant have been used in folk medicine, for example as a purgative, to combat intestinal parasites, to ease neuralgia, or to treat skin conditions such as scabies (Cordero, Abello & Galvéz 2022). Its stems are used to make brooms and brushes. Philesia magellanica produces copious amounts of a sugar-rich nectar; the high quality and quantity meet the very high energy requirements of the hummingbird. In parts of its natural range, especially in the extreme south on Isla Navarino, it flowers almost the entire year where it is a key species to sustain the populations of the Green-backed Hummingbird (Sephanoides sephanoides) that stay in the area until the end of May before moving further north (Rozzi et al. 2014).