English: Archidasyphyllum diacanthoides: bursting Spring leaf buds that will mature into flowering shoots. Note contrast between lively chartreuse green of buds and ‘tired’ mid green of previous season’s mature foliage. Note also somewhat pubescent, brownish-green bark of previous season’s stem.

Shoots borne by a young, cultivated specimen of Archidasyphyllum diacanthoides, the Tayu tree of Chile, a curious, arborescent member of the daisy family, Compositae. The bark of the Tayu tree is highly esteemed, in the folk medicine of Chile, as a remedy - both topical and internal - for blunt trauma. Tayu is a rare shrub in the UK (Seldom grown because not particularly ornamental), but a fairly common, evergreen street tree in Argentina.

This specimen is growing on the south-facing wall of a private house in Paxton, Scottish Borders, near Berwick-upon-Tweed. Has thus far proved hardy there, thanks to the relatively mild, maritime climate of the narrow, coastal strip of Northumberland abutting the North Sea.