Chammari

Arbutus unedo

Fruit of Arbutus unedo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Arbutus
Species:	A. unedo
Binomial name
*Arbutus unedo* L. 1753

Distribution map. Explanation: Native range. ✖ Isolated population. ▲ Introduced and naturalized (synanthropic).
Synonyms
Synonymy Unedo edulis Hoffmanns. Arbutus vulgaris Bubani Arbutus cassinifolia Steud. Arbutus crispa Hoffmanns. Arbutus croomii auct. Arbutus integrifolia Sims Arbutus intermedia Heldr. ex Nyman Arbutus laurifolia L.f. Arbutus microphylla auct. Arbutus nothocomaros Heldr. ex Nyman Arbutus procumbens Kluk ex Besser Arbutus salicifolia (Lodd.) Cels ex Hoffmanns. Arbutus serratifolia Salisb. Arbutus turbinata Pers. ex Rchb.

Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe north to western France and Ireland. Due to its presence in southwest and northwest Ireland, it is known as either "Irish strawberry tree", or cain or cane apple (from the Gaelic name for the tree, caithne), or sometimes "Killarney strawberry tree".

Arbutus unedo was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in Volume One of his landmark 1753 work Species Plantarum, giving it the name it still bears today.

A study published in 2001 which analyzed ribosomal DNA from Arbutus and related genera found Arbutus to be paraphyletic, and A. unedo to be closely related to the other Mediterranean Basin species such as A. andrachne and A. canariensis and not to the western North American members of the genus.

Arbutus unedo and A. andrachne hybridise naturally where their ranges overlap; the hybrid has been named Arbutus × andrachnoides (syn. A. × hybrida, or A. andrachne × unedo), inheriting traits of both parent species, though fruits are not usually borne freely, and as a hybrid is unlikely to breed true from seed. It is sold in California as Arbutus x Marina named for a district in San Francisco where it was hybridized.

Arbutus unedo grows to 5–10 m tall, rarely up to 15 m, with a trunk diameter of up to 80 cm. Zone: 7–10

The leaves are dark green and glossy, 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long and 2–3 cm (1–1 in) broad, with a serrated margin.

The hermaphrodite flowers are white (rarely pale pink), bell-shaped, 4–6 mm diameter, produced panicles of 10–30 together in autumn. They are pollinated by bees.

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Wikipedia