Herb: Macqui


Latin name: Aristotelia chilensis


Synonyms: Aristotelia macqui, Cornus chilensis


Family: Elaeocarpaceae



Medicinal use of Macqui:

A wine made from the fruit is said to have medicinal properties. The plant (the exact part is not specified) is astringent, febrifuge and poultice. It is used in the treatment of throat infections and intestinal tumours.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Evergreen
Shrub

Height:
3 m
(9 3/4 foot)

Flowering:
May

Habitat of the herb:

A weedy shrub of cleared forests and waste ground, growing in damp humus rich soils on lower mountain hillsides by rivers between latitudes 31 and 40° south.

Edible parts of Macqui:

Fruit - raw or dried for winter use. A pleasant taste somewhat like bilberries. The fruit is rather small, about 6mm in diameter.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Once the plants are at least 20cm tall, plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Consider giving them some protection from the cold for at least their first winter outdoors. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood of the current season's growth in early winter. Take cuttings 15 - 30cm long and plant them in pots or the open soil in a greenhouse. They normally root very easily and can be potted up in early summer then planted out late the following spring.

Cultivation of Macqui:

A weedy shrub of cleared forests and waste ground, growing in damp humus rich soils on lower mountain hillsides by rivers between latitudes 31 and 40° south.

Known hazards of Aristotelia chilensis:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.