Español

 Deutsch

 Русский

Height: 3 m.

No ornamental value (C)

Our philosophy and explanations about this page

INTRODUCTION

Most Chileans would not think of this plant as worthy of cultivation because its commonly found in the fields and is thought of as a weed shrub. Still, if you look closely at it, you may discover several interesting features of this plant - it looks rather strange and is very thorny, which makes it useful as a plant for fences. Plus, it is very forgiving for the novice - it does not have any special growth requirements.

Image of Talguenea quinquinervia

VII Region, Pelarco, Libueno; Altitude: 300 m. January 03, 2006

DESCRIPTION

It is a shrub of up to 3 meters high, with straight, thin branches, which are somewhat ramose, and with strong, sharp thorns which are facing each other. The leaves are fasciculated in group of about 4, are entire, 1-2 cm. long, oblong, sessil. with 5 parallel-running and clearly marked nerves (this is where its name comes from). The flowers are whitish, small ( 5 mm.), with 5 petals, 5 stamens, 1 pistil. The fruit is a small egg-shaped brown nut of about 5 mm, protected by a cover. The plantblooms in August-October and the fruits appear in December - Janauary.

HABITAT

This plant grows at low elevations in flatlands, prefers sunny spots and tolerates well dry seasons. Occasional freezing is not a problem, although it is usually never covered by snow in its natural habitat.

USES

We have not yet entered the data for this section.

GROWING TIPS

We have not yet entered the data for this section.

If you are interested in the seeds of this and similar plants, click here. For seedlings, click here.

More species from the same Rhamnaceae family in our data base:

Colletia spinosa (Crucero/Yaqui/Cunco)

Colletia ulicina (Cunco rojo/Crucero)

Discaria nana (Discaria chica)

Discaria serratifolia (Chacay)

Retanilla ephedra (Frutilla del campo/Caman/Coquillo/Retamilla)

Talguenea quinquinervia (Tralhuen)

Trevoa trinervis (Tevo/Trevu)