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Sarcomphalus mistol
Sarcomphalus mistol or mistol is a species of spiniferous shrub or tree of the family Rhamnaceae. It is native to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina in South America, and very abundant in parts of the Gran Chaco of northern Argentina and Paraguay. The word "mistol" derives from colonial era Spanish, from the word "mixture" (mezcla) since it was believed that mistol was a hybrid between species of genus Schinopsis because of the likely color of its wood to Spaniard colonists' perception.
From the article Sarcomphalus mistol on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The mistol varies greatly in height, it may reach 10 to 15 meters though most individuals have no more than 4 to 9 meters high. Trunk diameter is also variable, it ranges 20 to 60 centimeters. The branches are pubescent, abundant, with spines near the leaves, and arranged in zig-zag. Its foliage is semi-deciduous. Mistol leaves are oval shaped, alternate, entire, with three prominent basal veins, 2–7 cm long and slightly petiolated. It flowers late in spring, from October to December and fructifies from November to March. The fruit is an edible drupe, reddish-hazel coloured, roughly spherical, 1–5 cm long, sweet and sugary, with a distinct bitterness when ripe. Mistol wood is quite tough, heavy and enduring (hence its early confusion with that of Schinopsis genus). It is often used in hand held tools, carriage wheels and less frequently to produce slow burning coal.
Wikipedia: “Morphology”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Sarcomphalus mistol in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1127919.