Chañar

Geoffroea decorticans

Green peeling bark, yellow spring bloom, and sweet fruit boiled down to arrope, the syrup of the dry north.

Type: small tree · fruit trees
Hardiness: zones 8 to 10
Light: full sun
Size: about 25 ft tall, 20 ft wide
Harvest: July to August
From: Dry Chaco and Monte of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia
Drought-hardy once established
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.

Good for: food, fixing nitrogen in the soil, pollinators.

Native to: Southern Cone & Patagonia. Hardy in zones 8 to 10.

The story

Chañar sheds its bark in strips to show green skin underneath, like a palo verde. In the dry northwest of Argentina and the north of Chile its fruit has been stored and eaten since long before the Inca arrived.

Planting

Full sun and well-drained soil. It takes drought, heat, frost and salt.

Growing

Water to establish. It suckers from the roots; remove them or let a grove form.

Harvest and use

Sweet, floury orange fruit in summer, eaten fresh or boiled for hours into arrope, a dark syrup poured over cheese and taken as a traditional winter remedy.

What to watch for

Thorns and root suckers.

See if Chañar fits your yard
Free planner: enter your ZIP for frost dates, climate fit and a sowing calendar. No account, no ads, no tracking cookies.

More fruit trees

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home