Withania frutescens (L.) Pauquy

Spice Fruit detail Flower In the field

Family: SOLANACEAE

Genus: Withania

Catalan common name: Bufera. Bufera arbustiva. Capseta.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Castelló. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Ibiza. Cabrera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): West Mediterranean

Uses and properties: Medicinal. Psycotrophic plant.

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Rocky coastlines. Wild olive trees and other sclerophyllous shrublands. Juniperus phoenicea subsp. turbinata forest. Garriques of coastal line.

Characteristics: A well-branched bush that can reach three metres in height, with a circumference of about a metre and a half. Lives in the thickets and some islets of Mallorca and the Pitiusses, very rare on the large islands. The leaves are ovate (larger at the base), very shiny and slightly succulent, fall when summer arrives. The flowers emerge from the leaf axils, with five yellow petals; when they fructify the calyx bends and grows in the shape of a bell. Flowers during winter and spring