Highest tree species

Polylepis tarapacana, whose official accepted name is now Polylepis tomentella, is a long-lived tree (or shrub) species that can reach over 700 years in age and grows throughout the semi-arid ecosystem of the Altiplano in the central Andes from 16° to 23°S between 4,000 and 5,200 m a.s.l, forming the world's highest-elevation woodland. The genus Polylepis is part of Rosaceae family and includes 28 species of small- to medium-sized evergreen trees growing at very high elevations in the tropical and subtropical Andes of South America from Venezuela to northern Argentina (8°N–32°S).

The species Polylepis tarapacana was first recorded in 1891 in Anales del Museo Nacional Santiago de Chile. The tree was then recorded to grow at an altitude of 3,900 m.