Luma chequen, the white Chilean myrtle, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Luma in the family Myrtaceae, native to the central Andes mountains between Chile and Argentina, at latitudes located 30 to 41° South. Synonyms include Eugenia chequen Molina, Myrtus chequen (Molina) Spreng., and Luma gayana (Barn.) Burret. Common names in Spanish include chequén, huillipeta, and arrayán blanco (white myrtle).

It is a shrub (rarely a small tree) growing to 9 m tall, with dull grey-brown bark (unlike the smooth red bark of the related Luma apiculata). It is evergreen, with small fragrant oval leaves 0.5-2.5 cm long and 0.3-1.5 cm broad, and white flowers in early to mid summer. Its fruit is an edible dark purple berry 1 cm in diameter, ripe in early autumn.

It has been introduced as ornamental in the North Pacific Coast of the United States.[2]

Etymology

Luma is a derivation of a vernacular Chilean name for this species.[3]

  1. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  2. ^ "Luma chequen in Washington Park Arboretum" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-24.
  3. ^ Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN 9780521685535 (paperback). pp 243


Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luma_chequen
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