Escallonia Mutis ex L.f.
Evergreen, densely branched shrubs or trees. Lvs alternate, simple, often in clusters in axils of larger lvs, glossy, entire or serrate, usually dotted below with oil glands. Infl. usually terminal, rarely axillary, racemose or paniculate. Calyx forming a 5-lobed rim surrounding hypanthium. Petals 5, long-clawed, free but overlapping and often forming a tube. Stamens 5. Ovary inferior, enclosed in an obconic hypanthium. Capsule rounded, with persistent, elongated style.
Key
c. 40 spp., temperate C. and S. America. Naturalised spp. 2.
Several hybrids and cvs, especially E. × exoniensis (E. rosea Griseb. × E. rubra var. rubra or var. macrantha), are widely grown as ornamentals, particularly in exposed, coastal localities. The genus has been revised by Kausel, E., Darwinia 10: 169-255 (1953) and Sleumer, H., Die Gattung Escallonia (Saxifragaceae) (1968).
