ugni

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Ugni molinae.jpg

|image_caption = Ugni molinae

|display_parents = 2

|taxon = Ugni

|authority = Turcz.

|type_species = Ugni molinae

|type_species_authority = Turcz.

}}

Ugni is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, described as a genus in 1848.[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34378135#page/585/mode/1up Turczaninow, Nicolai Stepanowitsch. 1848. Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou 21(1): 579] in Latin[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40021334 Tropicos, Ugni Turcz] It is native to western Latin America from the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southern Chile (including the Juan Fernández Islands) and adjacent regions of southern Argentina, north to southern Mexico.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=209690 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]

They are shrubs with evergreen foliage, reaching 1–5 m tall. The leaves are opposite, oval, 1–4 cm long and 0.2-2.5 cm broad, entire, glossy dark green, with a spicy scent if crushed. The flowers are drooping, 1–2 cm diameter with four or five white or pale pink petals and numerous short stamens; the fruit is a small red or purple berry 1 cm diameter.Davidse, G., M. Sousa Sánchez, S. Knapp & F. Chiang Cabrera. 2009. Cucurbitaceae a Polemoniaceae. 4(1): i–xvi, 1–855. In G. Davidse, M. Sousa Sánchez, S. Knapp & F. Chiang Cabrera (eds.) Flora Mesoamericana. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.Sánchez-Vindas, P. E. 2001. Calycolpus, Eugenia, Myrcia, Myrcianthes, Myrciaria, Pimenta, Plinia, Psidium, Syzygium, Ugni. En: Stevens, W.D., C. Ulloa, A. Pool & O.M. Montiel (eds.), Flora de Nicaragua. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 85(2): 1566, 1570–1574, 1575–1580Landrum, L. R. & M. L. Kawasaki. 1997. The genera of Myrtaceae in Brazil: an illustrated synoptic treatment and identification keys. Brittonia 49(4): 508–536