Gorgistan: 2014

Scientific name: Arbutus unedo (Ericaceae)

Catalan: Arborcer, Arbocera, Arboç, Cirerer d’arboç
Spanish: Madroño
English: Strawberry tree, Cane apple

Arbutus: This is how the Romans called it.
unedo: From the Latin unum edo "I only eat one".

Evergreen small tree with dark green glossy serrate leaves. Flowers in panicles, white, bell-shaped, hermaphrodite, self fertile and pollinated by bees. Flowers september to december with the fruits ripening the next year. Fruit a berry, red when ripe, 1-2 cm in size. Resprouts vigorously after fire or cutting, especially the first 4-5 years. Therefore can develop into a dominant species in places with small-scale fires. Commonly found in lower altitude mediterranean oak forests (and also in West France and Ireland), up till 1000 m. Most species in this family like acidic soils, but this one also seems to thrive in an alkaline environment, like here in Els Gorgs, where it is very common. Fruit contains up to 0.5% alcohol, fermenting when still on the branches, and is used in jams, liquors and vinegar. They contain sugars, organic acids, pectine (and thus great for jam making, see photos below) and tanins. Ingestion of high quantities can lead to intestinal problems, headaches and finally ... drunkenness. I ate 15 very ripe ones and still felt sober. The fruits are also eaten by birds and omnivores like the marten. The Two-tailed Pasha or Foxy Emperor butterfly (Charaxes jasius) feeds on the fruit and deposits its larvae on the leaves and its distribution is intimately connected with the Arbutus tree. Bees visit the flowers for nectar and produce a honey which is characteristically bitter (Plinius the Elder warned not to let bees near this tree for it would ruin the honey). Nowadays the bitter taste is more appreciated and the island of Sardinia (and southern Portugal) is known for this honey. In earlier times the wood was used for umbrellas and flutes, and also as charcoal. Bark and leaves very astringent, with up to 36% of tanin and arbutin, which act as an anti-inflammatory for the urine apparatus. In moderate doses, the leaves are used as antiseptic, against dysentery, diarrhea, inflammations of urine bladder and incontinence.

The fruit is prominently figured in the coat of arms of Madrid (here) and in the Garden of Delights painting of Hieronymus Bosch (here).

Down here you can see how I made the jam. Just add sugar (half a kilo to one kilo fruit), a little water and boil it down to the preferred consistency. Then sieve and put it in sterilized pots, it's that easy ......