Description: Deciduous tree up to 5-12m tall. The leaves range glossy and green with deep veins. Flowers grow in umbrella-shaped clusters, yielding fruit that ripens to purplish-black
Habitat: Prefers wet sites, but can tolerate a range of conditions.
Harvest: Flowers bloom May-June with fruit ripening August-September
Edibility: Berries are edible but not delicious.
Fun Fact: Bark can be brewed into a tea to produce a strong laxative. Spanish explorers gave it the name ‘cascara sagrada’, or ‘sacred bark’.
