Bastard Cherry
Ehretia tinifolia
Family: Boraginaceae
OTHER NAMES
Spanish: roble prieto, pingüico
Mayan: bec
CHARACTERISTICS
Evergreen shrub or tree growing to 10-35’ tall with leathery green leaves. Fragrant, white flowers in panicles appear in late spring followed by orange, red or purple fruits.
LANDSCAPE USE
Large screening shrub or medium-sized shade tree.
GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED
SUN part sun
WATER moderate
SOIL not picky, but well-drained
HARDINESS not fully tested but can take temps at least to 20°F; plants at the University of Arizona have never shown frost damage
BASIN high zone
CONTAINER does moderately well in containers but will not attain full size
NUTRITION low
MAINTENANCE very little
Photo by utrera, iNaturalist
Ehretia tinifolia at the UA Campus Arboretum
ECOLOGY
Fruits for birds. Nectar-rich flowers. Part of the reason many butterflies visit the flowers is because of the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids which some species of butterflies use to attract mates, and for coating their eggs to protect from pests.
ETHNOBOTANY
Foliage and fruits are used for a wide array of medicinal purposes. Sweet and sour fruits are also used to make alcoholic beverages, liqueurs, syrups and jams as well as to flavor soups. A brownish-yellow dye is obtained from the leaves and does not require a mordant to attach to the fabric.
NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
Typically found in Mexico, southeastern USA and some Central American and Caribbean countries. It is distributed from the southern United States to Veracruz and Oaxaca, in many types of vegetation and in a wide altitudinal range.
TAXONOMY AND NAME
This plant is in the Boraginaceae, the borage family. There are 65 species of Ehretia native to the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Papuasia, and Australia..
The generic name honors German botanical illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708–1770). The species name, tinifolia, means with leaves like Viburnum tinus (tinus being the latin name for that plant and folia meaning foliage).
Foliage and fruit detail, photo by Styv De Jesús Calva, iNaturalist
The flowers are white and fragrant. Photo by utrera, iNaturalist