Luma apiculata
Common name: 
Arrayan
Palo Colorado
Chilean Myrtle
Temlu
Pronunciation: 
LOO-ma uh-pik-yoo-LAY-ta
Family: 
Myrtaceae
Genus: 
Luma
Synonyms: 
uh-pik-yoo-LAY-ta
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Evergreen shrub or small tree, to 6-8(20) ft [2-2.5(6) m] high, similar width.   Old plants develop smooth cinnamon-colored bark with a creamy white under bark, exfoliating.  Leaves simple, opposite, elliptic to oval, 1.2-2.5 cm long, ending in an abrupt point (apiculate), dull dark green above, lighter below.  Flowers solitary, white, about 2 cm across, 4-5 petals, stamens grouped in a ring and conspicuous, anthers pink; blooms from mid-summer to mid-fall.  Blue-black fruit, edible and sweet but not highly regarded.
  • Sun to partial shade.  Grows best in an infertile, humus-rich, and well-drained soil.  Can be grown as a hedge.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 8a      Native to Chile, Argentina.  (Closely related to Myrtus, in which the genus was formerly included.)
  • apiculata: ending in a short point.
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: parking lot north of Withycombe (on Orchard Ave.), in north-south lot divider.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, small plants

    plant habit, small plants

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • shoots and leaves

    shoots and leaves

  • leaves

    leaves

  • plant habit, flowering

    plant habit, flowering

  • flowering shoots and flowers

    flowering shoots and flowers

  • flowers

    flowers

  • fruit and leaves

    fruit and leaves

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark