''Duranta mutisii'', commonly known as espino in Spanish, is a shrub of the family

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell. The ...

that is found in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

Description

It is a shrub that can reach 8 meters high, with more or less dense foliage, has an irregular crown, with abundant branching and subcuadrangular branches. Its leaves are simple opposite, with an entire border, smooth, leathery, with an acute apex and cuneate base, without stipules and without exudate. The spines are opposite and curved. The flowers are light blue, tubular, grouped in axillary

inflorescences An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

in the form of a cluster. The fruits are yellow, round, apiculated, with yellow pulp and each contains one seed.

Distribution

It is distributed in South America at an altitude of 1800 to 3000 meters above sea level, in the following countries: Colombia,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Uses

It serves as food for a great diversity of native fauna; its flowers and fruits serve as food for insects and birds, its leaves are food of diverse amount of larvae, for example the larvae of '' Rothschildia aricia'' that produce silk. The plant is also used to counteract deforestation, use in fences and also as ornamental in parks.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15497147 Flora of South America Flora of western South America Flora of Colombia Flora of Ecuador Flora of Peru Flora of Venezuela Verbenaceae