Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Chilean Myrtle, Luma apiculata
Photographs: Glengarriff, Co. Cork

Chilean Myrtle
Luma apiculata
Family: Myrtaceae

Flowering midsummer to autumn. Evergreen shrub. Introduced.

The cup-shaped, scented white flowers with 5 petals are single or in small groups and followed by spherical purple berries in autumn. Opposite pairs of evergreen, aromatic, leathery, dark-green leaves. Peeling rusty-brown bark. Height to 10m+. Seeds freely but is frost tender.

Prefers humus-rich, well-drained soil in sun or semi-shade. A garden escape naturalised in mild, frost-free areas near the southern Irish coast.

Chilean Myrtle, Luma apiculata

Chilean Myrtle, Luma apiculata
Chilean Myrtle, Luma apiculata

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