Types of Strawberry Tree – Unedo, Greek, or Madrone

Choose strawberry tree by temperament first: an easy Mediterranean evergreen, a Greek collector cousin, or Pacific madrone on a native site. We list three kinds.

Choose a strawberry tree, Greek strawberry tree, or Pacific madrone

Greek strawberry tree resembles Pacific madrone but stays smaller. [1] Compact shop forms of unedo stay denser and shorter for years; they are still woody shrubs, not patio strawberries. [2]

Browse by kind

Strawberry tree

Strawberry tree (A. unedo) is the landscape default: peeling bark, fall flowers, and bland red fruit that often hangs with new bloom.

Greek strawberry tree

Greek strawberry tree (A. andrachne) is the collector Mediterranean cousin. It looks more like Pacific madrone than like a fruiting unedo, and it stays smaller than a forest madrone.

Pacific madrone

Pacific madrone (A. menziesii) is the West Coast native. Buy the smallest plant you can, keep extra summer water off it, and do not treat it as a beginner unedo.

Not strawberry tree — garden strawberries, Chinese strawberry tree, and other names

• Garden strawberry is Fragaria, a low fruit crop. The red fruits on this tree only look vaguely similar.
• Chinese strawberry tree is usually Myrica rubra (red bayberry / yangmei), not Arbutus. Confirm the Latin.
• Hydrangea Vanilla Strawberry is a hydrangea panicle. It is not a tree in the heath family.
• Pacific madrone in a wet lawn fails for cultural reasons, not because you bought the wrong fruit. Smallest stock, undisturbed roots, little extra water. [3]
• Marina is a shop hybrid you may see in California. We do not list it as a card. [4] Match bark and size at the nursery; do not assume it is unedo or Pacific madrone.

If you want an easy evergreen, start with unedo — do not force Pacific madrone to do that job in a wet bed.