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Winter's bark

Drimys winteri

Winter's bark
Photo: Eric Hunt, CC BY 2.5

Winter's bark is a slender evergreen tree from the cool, wet forests of southern Chile and Argentina, grown for its aromatic bark, glossy leaves and fragrant white flowers. It thrives in cool, moist climates and is hardy to about -20 °C in its native range.

Family
Winteraceae (Winter family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep soil consistently moist but never waterlogged, especially in the first few years.
Soil
Moist, humus-rich, well-drained acidic loam.
Temperature
10–20 °C; hardy to about -20 °C once established.
How easy
Moderate
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
S. Chile to SW. Argentina
Climate
temperate

About

Drimys winteri, also known as Winter's bark, foye and canelo, is a slender species of tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coastal evergreen forests. It is found below 1,200 m (3,900 ft) between latitude 32° south and Cape Horn at latitude 56°. In its southernmost natural range it can tolerate temperatures down to −20 °C (−4 °F). The plant is renowned for its phenotypic plasticity being able to grow in different sites from "extreme arid zones to wetlands along Chile". The tree does also grow in places with various types and degrees of competition from other plants.

How to grow it

Drimys winteri is grown in cool moist climates as an ornamental plant for its red-brown bark, bright green fragrant leaves and its clusters of creamy white jasmine-scented flowers.

The species grows well in southern Great Britain, flourishing as far north as Anglesey. Specimens brought from the southern forests of Tierra del Fuego and planted in the Faroe Islands have proven to be especially hardy.

Other Drimys plants

Mountain pepper · Tasmannia piperita · Broad-leaved Pepperbush

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Drimys winteri by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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