Arbutus unedo, L.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1972, Flora Europaea. Volume 3. Diapensiacea to Myoporaceae, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press : 11

1. A. unedo L. , Sp. Pl. 395 (1753) .

Usually a bushy shrub 1 - 5-3 m, occasionally a small tree up to 12 m. Bark fissured, peeling off in small flakes, mostly dull brown; young twigs glandular-setose, at least in part. Leaves 4-11 x 1 - 5-4 cm, oblong-lanceolate, usually 2-3 times as long as wide, serrate to subentire, glabrous except at extreme base; petiole 10 mm or less. Panicle 4-5 cm, drooping, appearing in autumn. Calyx 1 -5 mm, with suborbicular lobes; corolla c. 9 x 7 mm, white, often tinged with green or pink. Berry c. 20 mm, covered with conical papillae, ripening through yellow and scarlet to deep crimson. 2zz = 26. Evergreen scrub, wood-margins and rocky slopes. Mediterranean region and S.W. Europe, extending northwards locally to N. W. Ireland. Al BI Co Cr Ga Gr Hb HsItJu LuSaSiTu.