Photo by John Leszczynski on iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
FruitIn season now (October)
Strawberry tree (arbutus)
Arbutus unedo
- When
- Typically October – December — October, November, December. Earlier in warm, low country; later in the hills.
- Where it grows
- Evergreen scrub, woodland and rocky hillsides around the Mediterranean and up the Atlantic coast, often on limestone or sandstone — and around Killarney in south-west Ireland.
- How to know it
- An evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy, toothed leaves and red-brown, peeling bark. Round, warty red fruits 1.5–2 cm (⅝–¾ in) across ripen in autumn at the same time as the next year’s clusters of creamy, bell-shaped flowers.
- Look-alikes
- The warty skin, and white bell-flowers on the same branch as the fruit, are unmistakable. Holly berries are smooth and hard, among prickly leaves.
- Harvest and use
- Eat only fully ripe — deep red and soft. Sweet, mild and gritty; best in jam, jelly, liqueur and Portugal’s medronho brandy.
Strawberry tree (arbutus) at a glance
- Also called
- Arbutus, Irish strawberry tree, Killarney strawberry tree; madroño (Spain), medronheiro (Portugal), corbezzolo (Italy), arbousier (France)
- Family
- Ericaceae (heather family)
- Where it grows
- Around the Mediterranean — Portugal, Spain, western and south-eastern France, Italy, the Adriatic coast, Greece and Turkey — and south into Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, with famous outlying populations in south-west and western Ireland. Hardy outdoors in zone 7 and warmer.
- When to pick
- The fruit takes about a year to ripen and is ready from October into December, at the same time as the next flowers open. Frost at flowering time cuts the following year’s crop.
- Parts used
- The fully ripe fruit, fresh or cooked. The leaves have folk-medicine uses but are not food.
Questions people ask about strawberry tree
Can you eat strawberry tree fruit?
Yes, when fully ripe — deep red and soft. It is sweet but mild and gritty with small seeds, and bruises so easily that it rarely reaches shops. It is mostly made into jam, jelly and liqueurs.
Why is it called unedo?
The name is credited to Pliny the Elder: unum tantum edo, ‘I eat only one’ — a comment on the fruit’s bland flavour and gritty texture.
What is medronho?
A strong Portuguese brandy distilled from fermented strawberry-tree fruit. In Albania the fruit makes a rakia.
Is the strawberry tree native to Ireland?
It grows wild in south-west and western Ireland, around Killarney especially, and was long thought native; recent genetic studies suggest it may have been brought by people thousands of years ago.
Found in these regions
Hardiness zones 7–10.
Is it ready near you?
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Also ready in October
NutOctober – NovemberSweet chestnut
Castanea sativa
A big tree with long, glossy leaves edged with sharp, regular teeth, and bark that twists in spiralling ridges on old trunks. The nuts come in twos and threes inside a husk covered in dense, needle-sharp spines; each is glossy brown, flat on one side, with a pointed tuft at the tip.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: John Powers · CC BY 4.0
BerryAugust – OctoberRowan berries
Sorbus aucuparia
A slim tree with smooth silvery-grey bark and feathery leaves of many toothed leaflets in pairs; big flat clusters of scarlet-orange berries, each about 1 cm (⅜ in) across with a tiny black five-pointed star at the tip.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Therese Phillips · CC BY 4.0
BerryAugust – OctoberSea buckthorn
Hippophae rhamnoides
A thorny shrub with narrow, silvery-grey, willow-like leaves and branches packed with bright orange berries 6–8 mm (¼ in) across, from late summer into winter. Only female bushes fruit.
How to know it & its look-alikes →
Checked against these sources ·
Seasons are typical for the middle of the range and move by weeks north and south, and up and down hills.
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.