Arbutus unedo - 20 L - PAP 10/12

Arbutus unedo, the strawberry tree, is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe north to western France and Ireland. Due to its presence in southwest and northwest Ireland, it is known as either "Irish strawberry tree", or cain or cane apple (from the Irish name for the tree, caithne), or sometimes Killarney strawberry tree.

Despite the name "strawberry tree", it is not closely related to the common strawberry plant (Fragaria x ananassa).

Arbutus unedo was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in Volume One of his landmark 1753 work Species Plantarum, giving it the name it still bears today.

A study published in 2001 which analyzed ribosomal DNA from Arbutus and related genera found Arbutus to be paraphyletic, and A. unedo to be closely related to the other Mediterranean Basin species such as A. andrachne and A. canariensis and not to the western North American members of the genus.

Arbutus unedo and A. andrachne hybridise naturally where their ranges overlap; the hybrid has been named Arbutus x andrachnoides (syn. A. x hybrida, or A. andrachne x unedo), inheriting traits of both parent species, though fruits are not usually borne freely, and as a hybrid is unlikely to breed true from seed. It is sold in California as Arbutus x Marina named for a district in San Francisco where it was hybridized.

Arbutus unedo grows to 5-10 m (16-33 ft) tall, rarely up to 15 m (49 ft), with a trunk diameter of up to 80 cm (31 in). It grows in hardiness zones 7-10.

The leaves are dark green and glossy, 5-10 cm (2-4 in) long and 2-3 cm (0.79-1.18 in) broad, with a serrated margin.

The hermaphrodite flowers are white (rarely pale pink), bell-shaped, 4-6 mm (0.16-0.24 in) diameter, produced panicles of 10-30 together in autumn. They are pollinated by bees, and have a mild sweet scent.