Luma (plant)

Not to be confused with Amomyrtus luma.
Luma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Luma
A.Gray
Synonyms[1]

Myrceugenella Kausel

Luma is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, described as a genus in 1853.[2][3] It is native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina.[1]

They are shrubs or small trees with evergreen foliage and smooth red or orange bark, typically reaching 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall and up to 1 m (3 ft) in trunk diameter. The leaves are opposite, oval, 1–5 cm long and 0.5–3 cm broad, entire, glossy dark green, with a spicy scent if crushed. The flowers are 2 cm diameter with four white petals and numerous stamens; the fruit is a small purple or black berry 1 cm diameter.

The genus name derives from the Mapuche (Native American) name for a related species, Amomyrtus luma.

Species[1]
  1. Luma apiculata (DC.) Burret, Notizbl. - (Chilean myrtle, known in Spanish as Arrayán or Temu) - S Chile, S Argentina; naturalized in Alpine County in California
  2. Luma chequen (Molina) A.Gray - (Chequén or Huillipeta) - central Chile; naturalized in Peru + Bolivia
formerly included[1][4]

A long list of over 100 other names have been proposed in the genus, nearly all of them now regarded as members of other genera: Blepharocalyx, Eugenia, Myrceugenia, etc.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ↑ Gray, Asa. 1853. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 3: 52–53 description in Latin, commentary in English
  3. ↑ Tropicos, Luma A. Gray
  4. ↑ Burret, (Maximilian) Karl Ewald. 1941. Notizblatt des Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin-Dahlem 15: 518-542


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