a·ler·ce

(ä-lûr′sĕ, -sā)

1. A large, long-lived coniferous evergreen tree (Fitzroya cupressoides) native to the temperate rainforests of southern Chile and neighboring parts of Argentina.

2. The reddish-brown wood of this tree.

[American Spanish, from Spanish, larch, from Arabic al-'arz, the cedar (influenced in meaning by Latin larix) : al-, the + 'arz, cedar; see ʔrz in Semitic roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

alerce

(əˈlɜːs; æˈlɜːsɪ)

1. (Forestry) the wood of the sandarac tree

2. (Plants) a cupressus-like Chilean pine, Fitzroya cupressoides, cut for timber

[Spanish: larch, from Latin larix, influenced by Arabic al-arz]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

On the higher parts, brushwood takes the place of larger trees, with here and there a red cedar or an alerce pine.

View in context

With that change go the variety and splendor of Chilean hardwoods such as alerce, araucaria and coihue, which take decades, even a century, to mature.

The Woods Aren't Deep

Leaving Cochamo, the trail cuts through thick alerce forests and skirts upland lakes, including the remote, cobalt-blue Lake Vidal.

Saddle-up for the Southern Andes

Bariloche: Rapidos Rio Alerce, 900 m s.m., 27-XI-1974, Rechencq s.n.

Morfologia del fruto en especies de Valeriana (Valerianaceae) de los Andes Australes

It has been involved in forestry issues for more than 20 years, working to protect native hardwoods (sought for export as wood chips), the unique araucaria or Chilean pine (Araucaria araucana, designated a national monument in March 1990 by President Patricio Aylwin), and the last remaining stands of alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides).

No chip off the old block

Valdivia, Reserva Natural del Alerce Costero, 31-XII-2001, C.

Morfologia del esporofito y el gametofito de asplenium dareoides (Aspleniaceae, Pteridophyta)

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