title: Ugni
text: Ugni is a genus of plants of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae). Four species belong to this genus, all from western America.
  
  Description
  
  They are small evergreen shrubs. The leaves are simple, entire, opposite, elliptical; they are 1–2 cm long and 0.2-2.5 cm broad, dark green, and with a spicy scent if broken into many small pieces.
  
  The solitary flowers are usually hanging; they are 1–2 cm diameter with four or five white or pale pink petals and many short stamens. The fruit is a small red or purple berry, 1 cm in diameter, with many seeds.
  
  Name
  The name comes from Uñi with which the Mapuches (native people from south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina) name the fruits of the best known species of the genus, Ugni molinae.
  
  The genus was formerly often included in either Myrtus or Eugenia; it is distinguished from these two genera by the hanging flowers with stamens shorter than the petals.
  
  The Russian botanist Nicolai Stepanowitsch Turczaninow created the genus Ugni in 1849.
  
  Where it grows
  All species of this genus are found in western South and Central America, native from southern Mexico to central southern Chile and Argentina.
  
  Species
  There are four species in this genus:'
   Ugni candollei (Barnéoud) O.Berg: Chile
   Ugni molinaeTurcz.: Chile and Argentina
   Ugni myricoides (Kunth) O.Berg: Southern Mexico, Central America to Bolivia, Venezuela and northern Brazil
   Ugni selkirkii (Hook. & Arn.) O.Berg: Endemic species of the Juan Fernández Islands, Chile
  
  Uses
  Ugni molinae is grown as an ornamental plant and for its edible fruits; these fruits are also used to make jams.
  
  References
  
  Other websites
  
   Ugni in Encyclopedia of the Chilean Flora
   Ugni molinae at ChileBosque 
   Flora of Chile: Ugni
   Trees and shrubs of Ecuador: Ugni
  
  Shrubs
  Myrtaceae