Coriaria myrtifolia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Coriaria myrtifolia |
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| Leaves and mature fruits in July | |
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C. myrtifolia
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| Coriaria myrtifolia |
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C. hermaphrodita Turra |
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Coriaria myrtifolia, called in English redoul, is a plant with poisonus fruits and whose leaves were traditionally used as raw material in tanning (making leather out of skins).
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Name
The Spanish name emborrachacabras (that is, getting goats drunk) refers to the leaves' effect on goats that eat them. The French name (redoul) and Catalan name (roldor) come from Latin Rhus tyrius (Syrian or Tyrian sumac), referring to the leaves use in the traditional tannery industry, to make "Basil" leather. The honeydew from redoul is also toxic.
Description
C. myrtifolia is a shrub to 2–3 m tall without hairs and with shiny leaves like the leaves of the myrtle (myrtifolia means "leaves like the leaves of the myrtle"). It produces small greenish flowers in spring (April to June) in racemes (a kind of inflorescence).
It produces fruits in early summer. The fruits look like berries but they are small nuts (achenes) protected by enlarged and colored petals; it is the same of all the species of the genus Coriaria. Fruits cannot be eaten because their seeds are very poisonous.
The plants of redoul can fix nitrogen from the air because they have bacteria in their roots.
Where it grows
C. myrtifolia is found only around the western Mediterranean Sea, not too far from the coast but near rivers:
- Southern Portugal.
- Spain, along the Mediterrean coast and mainly in Catalonia. In the Balearic Islands, it appears only in Ibiza.
- Southern France
- Italy, in the region near to France.
- Morocco
- Algeria
See also
In Spanish: Coriaria myrtifolia para niños
