Quote:
Originally Posted by Plum
Several decades ago in Spain we had a soft fruit, the same size as a
strawberry and also eaten with cream. It had a slightly gritty, very dark
red skin outside with a brilliant orangey yellow, squashy, inside.
Phonetically written, the name sounded like "madronyos". It was delicious
but I have never discovered the English name. I suspect it would not be
sold here as it probably would not travel. Anyone recognise it?
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Madroņo in Spanish or medronho in Portuguese, referring to trees of the Arbutus genus. Often called Madrone in the USA because of the hispanic influence, but strawberry tree in Britain.
Arbutus unedo, the dominant species in the western mediterranean, fruits in Britain, though without the heat of Spain it may not have the eating quality of fruit there. Though its name "unedo" means "I eat one" because many people have decided not to eat a second fruit - its gritty and somewhat bland. Though I suspect some of the arbutus grown for the fruit in southern spain and portugal is actually Arbutus menziesii, the Pacific madrone.
I have the compacta garden variety of A unedo in my garden which in theory stays small, but fruits less abundantly, so I don't get a lot of fruit. But of what I have got, I have found "unedo" appropriate. I find Cornus kousa a much tastier unusual edible, showy red berries about the same size as arbutus berries.
The arbutus unedo you see in extensive forests in Sardinia for example are quite small and shrubby, about 3-4m tall, say. But they will grow much bigger than that in locations with a damp summer, as in the SW of Ireland where they have become naturalised and become massive. My compacta would be bigger than a Sardinian shrubby one by now if I didn't keep it heavily pruned.
As a garden tree, Arbutus x andrachnoides is a beauty. It flowers profusely and has a lovely bark. But it grows big and fast.