Arbutus unedo

The strawberry tree is a shrub or small tree that can be up to 8 m tall. It has a dense, globose crown that generates a lot of shade. The bark is reddish-brown, cracked, flaky and peels off in small sheets. The young twigs are reddish, although when mature they become greyish (they never acquire the orange hue of the Canary madrone, Arbutus canariensis). The leaves are persistent, simple, alternate and lanceolate. They are bright green, shiny on the upper side and matt on the underside. They are 8-10 cm long, 3-4 wide and have a serrated margin. The hermaphroditic flowers are white or pink in colour. They appear in hanging groups up to 10 cm in length and are shaped like closed bells reminiscent of tiny inverted pitchers. The ripe fruits are granular looking, have no skin, are fleshy, rounded, 2-3 cm in diameter, bright red or orange on the outside and orangey-yellow on the inside. In Spain they use the colourful phrase: "redder than a strawberry tree". In winter, both flowers and ripe fruit can be found on the strawberry tree at the same time. In general, this tree looks very similar to the Canary madrone, but its leaves tend to be more leathery, erect, and somewhat shorter; the stalks of the flowers and fruits lack glandular hairs, and the ripe fruits are a more intense orange-red colour.