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Phytolacca dioica
Also called Umbratree, Belhambra Treee, Bella Ombre, Omboe, Ombu, Pokeweed, Umbo
Phytolacca dioica, the ombú, is a massive evergreen tree from the Pampas and nearby South American grasslands, with a broad umbrella-like canopy and a huge tuberous trunk base. It is grown mainly as a shade and specimen tree in warm, frost-free climates, and it needs plenty of room.
Phytolacca dioica, commonly known as ombú in Spanish and umbu in Portuguese, is a massive evergreen tree in the pokeweed family Phytolaccaceae, native to the Pampas of South America. As its specific epithet suggests, it is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants. The flowers are pollinated by the butterfly Doxocopa laurentia. It has an umbrella-like canopy that spreads to a diameter of 12 to 15 m (39 to 49 ft) and can attain a height of 12 to 18 m (39 to 59 ft). This upper growth springs up from a tuberous caudex, which can reach up to 14 m (46 ft) girth. Because it is derived from herbaceous ancestors, its trunk consists of anomalous secondary thickening rather than true wood. As a result, the ombú grows fast but its wood is soft and spongy enough to be cut with a knife.
Indian Pokeweed · American pokeweed · Pokeweed · Phytolacca dodecandra
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phytolacca dioica 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.
