Arbutus unedo

Very hardy to adverse conditions including coastal, heat, and cold. Small, white flowers in autumn and winter. Green fruit appear in winter after the flowers and take almost a full year to ripen. The fruit change color through yellow to red and ripen when the next year's autumn flowers appear. Birds love the fruit and the flowers are a good source of pollen for bees. Has peeling, red-brown bark.

Exotic

Evergreen

Tolerates coastal sites

Dry soils

Attracts birds

Attracts bees

Family: Ericaceae, heath or heather family, a family of flowering herbs, shrubs, and trees.

Genus: Arbutus, arbutus (Latin, noun), meaning 'strawberry tree', in reference to Arbutus unedo. A genus of flowering plants.

Species: Arbutus unedo, unedō (Latin, noun), meaning 'strawberry tree', in reference to Arbutus unedo. There is a folk etymology of unedō by Pliny the Elder (AD 23/24 - 79) that it comes from the Latin numeral ūnum (one) and the verb edō (I eat), in supposed reference to the foul taste of the fruit so only one could be eaten at a time.

Common Name: Strawberry Tree

Other Common Name(s): Irish Strawberry Tree, Killarney Strawberry Tree, Cane Apple

Description: Very hardy to adverse conditions including coastal, heat, and cold. Small, white flowers in autumn and winter. Green fruit appear in winter after the flowers and take almost a full year to ripen. The fruit change color through yellow to red and ripen when the next year's autumn flowers appear. Birds love the fruit and the flowers are a good source of pollen for bees. Has peeling, red-brown bark.

Height: 4m

Width: 3m

Uses: Attracts birds, Attracts bees

Tolerates: Coastal

Soil Type: Dry soils

Winter Foliage: Evergreen

Origin: Exotic

Stem:

• Summer: Red, Brown

• Autumn: Red, Brown

• Winter: Red, Brown

• Spring: Red, Brown

Foliage:

• Summer: Green

• Autumn: Green

• Winter: Green

• Spring: Green

Flowers:

• Summer: None

• Autumn: White

• Winter: White

• Spring: None

Fruit:

• Summer: Yellow, Orange, Red

• Autumn: Orange, Red

• Winter: Green

• Spring: Yellow