Plant of the week with Alexander McCowan

Abuse can cause hallucinations

Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo or Manzanita) is an evergreen tree member of the Ericaceae family, growing to about 8m in deep, loamy soil in southern Europe.

It has a thin, red bark; shiny, dark, serated leaves and clusters of honey-scented, creamy, bell-shaped flowers, which produce a scarlet to orange strawberry-shaped fruit, but has a skin more resembling a lychee than a strawberry.

Everything about this tree is abundant; masses of leaves, flowers and fruits. While not at the forefront of medicinal plants, it was well known to the ancients. Pliny named the tree Arbutus although there is some doubt about the meaning of the Latin, unede; ‘I eat one’. Whether it refers to one being quite sufficient and therefore so satisfying that no more are required, or one being quite enough, in the sense that the exercise should not be repeated, is not clear. The fruit is somewhat bland and in large quantities supposedly narcotic. The Sicilians make a liqueur from the fruit, which is certainly hallucinogenic if abused. Horace and Ovid praised the tree for its beauty and Virgil recommended it for animal fodder.

Gerard and Culpeper used the leaves to treat diarrhoea and made infusions from the fruit to combat liver disorders. In Chinese herbal medicine, the leaves, bark and fruit are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure), arteriosclerosis (hardening of arterial walls), and liver ailments.

The tree was very popular in the Hellenic world: in Greece the bark was employed in the tanning industry, the stems were made into fish and lobster traps and the wood was processed into charcoal and used to make looms. The Portuguese, Spanish and Sicilians all make a liqueur from the fruit and the Algerians grow it for stock hedges.

The tree is naturalised in Cyprus and is found in rocky areas in the mountainous regions yet is not very popular in Cypriot gardens, which is surprising because it is very easy to grow, lime tolerant and a great source of shade and evening perfume.

Next week Inula

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.