Luma chequen

Description

Luma chequen (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.