luma

Photo: Lin linao — Public domain · source

Survives zone 8 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Aromatic berries, red ripening to black, with a flavor reminiscent of blueberry and myrtle — genuinely good eating, used fresh and in jams, juices and fermented drinks in its native Chile and Argentina. Care: Winter protection — mulch, fleece, or a warm wall.

Hardiness

Zone 8–9

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Autumn

Mature size

Evergreen tree to 25 m with a trunk to 50 cm in Chilean rainforest; slow, and usually 4–8 m in cultivation

Light

Partial to full sun (forest species)

Soil pH

5.5–7.0 (acid–neutral; dislikes chalk)

Environment

Temperate rainforest

Native range

Valdivian temperate rainforest of south-central Chile and adjacent south-west Argentina

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

3–4 yrs

Growth speed

Slow

Spacing

400 cm (157 in) apart — about 16 m² (172 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Opposite, glossy dark green, ovate to elliptic with a pointed tip, 2–4 cm long, leathery and gland-dotted — strongly spicy when crushed.

Root system

Dense fibrous surface-rooting mat typical of the Chilean myrtles, adapted to constantly moist, humus-rich forest soils. Shallow enough to suffer quickly in drought and on thin dry soils; keep it mulched.

Fruit description

Small purple to black berry roughly the size of a blackcurrant, very aromatic, with sweet flesh and numerous small seeds. Eaten fresh in Chile and Argentina; the flowers are a significant honey source.

Propagation

Seed, sown fresh — it does not store well. Semi-ripe cuttings root but slowly, in line with the species' general slow growth.

Pollination

Self-fertile

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.