Strawberry tree

In the Algarve the fruit of the strawberry tree is distilled into aguardente de medronho – the traditional fiery spirit of Portugal’s south.

The strawberry tree is an evergreen shrub or small tree with reddish, peeling bark and leathery, toothed leaves. In autumn it bears hanging clusters of white, urn-shaped flowers, while at the same time the round, warty fruits set the previous year ripen – first yellow, then orange and scarlet. The fruits are edible but mealy and not very sweet, so they are usually made into jams and alcohol. The shrub regrows well after fires and is an important component of Mediterranean maquis.

Significance in the country

The medronheiro grows wild in the mountains of the Algarve, and distilling aguardente de medronho in home stills is a centuries-old tradition of the Serra de Monchique and the Serra do Caldeirão. The fruit is also made into jams and liqueurs, and bees make a bitterish honey from its late-autumn flowers.

Where it grows

Wild in scrub and open woodland in the south and centre of the country, most abundantly in the mountains of the Algarve (Monchique, Caldeirão) and in the south-western Alentejo; rarer in the north.

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