''Vitex megapotamica'' is a

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

fruit tree found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and southern Brazil. In Brazil it is commonly called ''tarumã''. The tarumã grows to be up to ten metres tall. Its bark is coloured dark grey; its

compound leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

have a long petiole and five elliptic leaflets. The small, abundant flowers developed into fleshy stone fruit. The fruits are eaten by a number of species, and serve also as fishing bait. Tarumã grows from the Southeast Region of Brazil to the

South Region Southern Region or South Region may refer to: * Southern Nigeria * Southern Region (Boy Scouts of America) * Southern Region, Bauchi, Nigeria * South Region, Brazil, an official grouping of states for economic and statistical purposes * Southern R ...

, and on through

and

. In Brazil, its

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s include ''azeitona do mato'' (forest olive), ''azeitona brava'', ''cinco folhas'' (five leaves), ''copiúba'', ''sombra de touro'' (bull's shadow), and ''tarumã romã'' (tarumã pomegranate).

References

megapotamica Trees of Argentina Trees of Brazil Trees of Paraguay Trees of Uruguay {{Lamiaceae-stub