Arbutus L. (1753), the strawberry tree, in the Ericaceae, contains around 12 species in Europe, western Asia, and North America.
Description Trees to 40m, or shrubs, often with smooth, reddish, peeling bark. The leaves are alternate, evergreen, sometimes hairy when young. The flowers are in loose bunches, tubular, narrowed at the mouth, white or pinkish. Sepals 5, joined at the base; petals 5, equal, joined to form a toothed corolla. Stamens 10, filaments hairy; the anthers with long appendages, opening by pores. Ovary superior. Carpels 5, fused, with numerous ovules; style straight. Pollination is by insects, usually bumblebees. The fruits are round, red or orange, and fleshy, covered with small protuberances, with numerous seeds embedded in a flavourless pulp.
Key Recognition Features The round, red or orange fruits, which are often present at the same time as the flowers, are characteristic.
Evolution and Relationships The fruits of Arbutus are very distinctive.
Ecology and Geography In rocky woods and scrub on both acid and limestone rocks. Two species are found in the Mediterranean area, with A. unedo L. mainly western and extending as far north as Killarney in southwestern Ireland, and A. andrachne L. mainly eastern. One species, A. canariensis Viell., is native in the Canary Islands. The remainder are found in western North America, Texas, and Mexico.
Comment The name unedo means, “I eat one”, because the fruit is so insipid that nobody is tempted to eat a second. The hybrid between the 2 Mediterranean species, A. x andrachnoides Link, is often cultivated for its reddish-brown bark.