''Gaultheria mucronata'' ( syn. ''Pernettya mucronata''), the prickly heath, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Ericaceae,

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

to southern Argentina and Chile. In volcanic areas of southern Chile ''Gaultheria mucronata'' is one of the dominant plant species above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

Description

It is a compact, bushy,

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

shrub with glossy green leaves and solitary white flowers in spring, followed in autumn by showy globose berries up to in diameter, in shades from deep plum purple through pink to pure white. It is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

, meaning that both male and female plants must be grown together in order to produce fruit. It prefers moist, shaded conditions.

Edibility

Its fruits are edible when ripe; they are sweet and juicy but somewhat tasteless, hence useful as survival food.

Cultivars

Numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

have been selected for garden use, of which the following have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

:- *'Bell's Seedling' (deep red fruit) *'Crimsonia' (large crimson fruits) *'Mulberry Wine' (purple fruit) *'Wintertime' (white fruits) File:Gaultheria mucronata 'Bell's Seedling' RHu 01.JPG, ''Gaultheria mucronata'' 'Bell's Seedling' File:Gaultheria mucronata 'Wintertime' RHu.JPG, ''Gaultheria mucronata'' 'Wintertime'

Etymology

''Gaultheria'' is named for Dr. Jean François Gaulthier (1708-56), a Swedish-

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

botanist from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). p 175 The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''mucronata'' means “prickly”, referring to the foliage.

References

External links

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Gaultheria mucronata info
' mucronata Flora of southern Chile Berries Dioecious plants {{Ericaceae-stub