Ugni

Ugni is a genus of about 10 species of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to western South America and Central America from the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southern Chile north to southern Mexico, and also the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile. They are shrubs with evergreen foliage, reaching 1-5 m tall. The leaves are opposite, oval, 1-4 cm long and 0.2-2.5 cm broad, entire, glossy dark green, with a spicy scent if crushed.

The flowers are drooping, 1-2 cm diameter with four or five white or pale pink petals and numerous short stamens; the fruit is a small red or purple berry 1 cm diameter.

The scientific name derives from the Mapuche Native American name Uñi for U. molinae. The genus was formerly often included in either Myrtus or Eugenia; it is distinguished from these by the drooping flowers with stamens shorter than the petals.


Uses
Ugni molinae is grown as an ornamental plant for its edible, strawberry-flavoured berries. Some commercial "strawberry flavouring" is made from this species, not from strawberries.


Species
Ugni molinae (Myrtus ugni, Eugenia ugni) is an endemic shrub native to southern Chile. It is a shrub growing to from 30 cm to 170 cm tall with evergreen foliage. In some exceptional cases the shrub can grow up to 3 m in height. The leaves are opposite, oval, 1-2 cm long and 1-1.5 cm broad, entire, glossy dark green, with a spicy scent if crushed. The flowers are drooping, 1 cm diameter with four or five white or pale pink petals and numerous short stamens; the fruit is a small red, white or purple berry 1 cm diameter with a strong strawberry flavour.
The fruit is cultivated to a small extent for the production of strawberry flavouring. It was first described by Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782. It was introduced to England in 1844 by the botanist and plant collector William Lobb, where it became a favourite fruit of Queen Victoria. It is also grown as an ornamental plant.
The usage of murta in cuisine is limited to southern Chile where it grows. It is used to make the traditional liqueur Murtado that is made of aguardiente and sugar flavoured by conserving murtas inside the bottle. It is also used to make jam and the Murta con membrillo dessert.
It is known as "New Zealand cranberry" in New Zealand and marketed as the "Tazziberry" in Australia.

Ugni poeppigii

Ugni candollei

Ugni myricoides

Ugni selkirkii

Ugni philippii

Ugni lanceolata

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