Monographs Details:
Authority:
Popenoe, Wilson. 1924. Economic fruit-bearing plants of Ecuador. Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 24: i-ix, 101-134. pl. 34-49.
Popenoe, Wilson. 1924. Economic fruit-bearing plants of Ecuador. Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 24: i-ix, 101-134. pl. 34-49.
Family:
Ericaceae
Ericaceae
Description:
Description - The mortiño is a slender, handsome shrub about 2 meters in height, with very small, elliptic to ovate, acute, finely serrate leaves closely crowded on the stems, and small, bell-shaped, deep pink flowers produced in great abundance. The very glaucous blue fruit is roundish, up to about 8 mm. in diameter, juicy, subacid, and pleasant to the taste, and containing several very small seeds. It greatly resembles some of the blueberries of the United States, and could probably be developed by cultivation into a more valuable fruit than it is to-day. In northern Ecuador it is believed that the fruits produced by low, spreading plants are better than those of the tall ones.
Uses - It is not cultivated, but the fruit is brought into the markets of Andean villages. In some parte of the country its ripening season, March to August, is the occasion for picnics in the campo, the inhabitants of the towns and villages betaking themselves to the places in which this plant grows abundantly, to pick and eat the fruit.
Description - The mortiño is a slender, handsome shrub about 2 meters in height, with very small, elliptic to ovate, acute, finely serrate leaves closely crowded on the stems, and small, bell-shaped, deep pink flowers produced in great abundance. The very glaucous blue fruit is roundish, up to about 8 mm. in diameter, juicy, subacid, and pleasant to the taste, and containing several very small seeds. It greatly resembles some of the blueberries of the United States, and could probably be developed by cultivation into a more valuable fruit than it is to-day. In northern Ecuador it is believed that the fruits produced by low, spreading plants are better than those of the tall ones.
Uses - It is not cultivated, but the fruit is brought into the markets of Andean villages. In some parte of the country its ripening season, March to August, is the occasion for picnics in the campo, the inhabitants of the towns and villages betaking themselves to the places in which this plant grows abundantly, to pick and eat the fruit.
Common Names:
mortiño
mortiño