Common name: Strawberry Tree
Arbutus unedo L. APNI* Description: Shrubs or small trees, to c. 9 m high but usually less than 4 m. Bark brown, shallowly grooved longitudinally, falling in small pieces. Branchlets puberulent and with glandular hairs to 1.5 mm long.
Leaves erect, elliptic to oblanceolate, 4.5–8 cm long, 2–4 cm wide, margins toothed, apex acute; petiole up to 1 cm long.
Inflorescence a drooping, 1–3 (-7) branched panicle. Flowers actinomorphic, pedicels 4.5–5.5 mm long, glabrous. Sepals united at base, c. 1 mm long. Corolla greenish-white, sometimes tinged red, urceolate, 6.5–7.5 mm long, glabrous outside, with long hairs inside toward base, lobes c. 1 mm long, reflexed. Stamens 10, filaments 2.5–3.5 mm long, swollen and hairy at base, with paired spurs near apex; anthers c. 1.5 mm, with apical appendage. Ovary 5-locular, papillate, glabrous; style continuous with ovary.
Fruit spherical, 1–1.7 cm diameter, dark red, papillae conical.
Flowering: Autumn
Distribution and occurrence: Widely cultivated. Sporadically naturalised in the mid-upper Blue Mountains and the Southern Tablelands near Canberra.
NSW subdivisions: *CT, *ST
Text by Darren Crayn
Taxon concept:
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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