| Abstract | Arbutus unedo is a branched evergreen shrub or small tree up to 10-12 m tall, with reddish- brown, fissured bark that peels in small flakes. The short-stalked (1 cm) and alternate leaves are dark green and shining on their upper side, pale green on their under side, coriaceous, oblong-lanceolate, toothed, sometimes obscurely so, and hairless except for the base. Flower form is typically ericaceous; flowers are white, born in drooping terminal panicles, often tinged with pink or green, urceolate with five recurved lobes, 6-10 mm long. Each flower contains 10 stamens and one discoid stigma. Fruits are globose berries, 15-20 mm in diameter, covered in conical swellings, ripening through yellow to scarlet and deep crimson. |
