Arbutus menziesii - Arbutus

• Family: Ericaceae (Heath/Crowberry) ^[E-flora]
• Other Names: Madrone, Pacific Madrone. ^[E-flora]

Overconsumption Fruit Dye, Wood,Fiber Colds, Externally on cuts and burns

Description

Synonyms

• Arbutus procera ^[PFAF]
  

General: Broadleaf Tree.(IFBC)^[E-flora] 6-30m tall.^{Hitchcock&cronquist} Old bark peeling in long strips.^HNW Bark smooth, chartreuse(pale green/yellow) in color, turning deep red to dark brownish red. ^{Hitchcock&cronquist} Hardwood ^{[Leadem FSSB]}
Lifecycle: Evergreen.^PWOBC Though the leaves live for two years before they turn red and fall.^[Berries]
Flowers: corollas white or pinkish, urn-shaped.(IFBC)^[E-flora] 1/3 inch and in long, drooping clusters.^[Berries]
Fruits: Maturing to red or orange. 1/2 inch across. ^[Berries] "...covered with small bumps".^PWOBC "20 hard, angled seeds" per fruit (average) ^{Leadem FSSB}
Leaves: Alternate, evergreen, leathery.(IFBC)^[E-flora] Elliptical, shiny and dark green.^[Berries]
Habitat: Dry open forests and rocky slopes.(IFBC)^[E-flora]
Range: "common in extreme SW BC"(IFBC). "Southwestern British Columbia south to Baja California."^[E-flora] Central Sierra Nevada to 6,000 feet. ^[Berries] "Typically found in coastal areas of northern California, Oregon, offshore islands of Washington..." ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]}
Status: Native.(IFBC)^[E-flora]
Ecological Indicator: Shade-intolerant. "...on very dry to moderately dry soils. Restricted to water-shedding sites on southeastern Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands, and adjacent coastal mainland; its occurrence decreases with increasing latitude, elevation and continentality. Occasional in pure or mixed-species young-seral stands (usually with Garry oak or Douglas-fir) on strongly drained sites....Characteristic of moisture-deficient sites." (IPBC)^[E-flora]
Possible Lookalikes: "Another evergreen broadleaf tree (or large shrub) in our region is chinquapin (Castanopsis chrysophylla), a relative of oaks and chestnuts. It has leathery, lance-shaped leaves that are dark green above and golden- scaly below. white flowers in upright catkins, and spiny, burr-like fruits like small chestnuts. Chinquapin is known from a few locations at low elevations in the Puget Trough, and from low to middle elevations in Oregon." ^[PCBC]

Hazards

• Eating more than a few of the berries causes stomachache. ^[Berries]

Food Uses

• Fruit: "Raw or cooked (2, 92, 105, 161, 183). Raw, boiled or steamed.^[Berries] "A bland taste(229).Very sour according to another report (226). After boiling the fruit can be dried for later use(183)." ^[PFAF] "They were eaten fresh, as gathered from the trees, or more frequently they were cooked in the Indian fashion with hot stones in water in a cooking basket. The berries were then dried and could be stored, to be soaked in warm water when wanted, or mixed with crushed or ground Manzanita berries." ^EuCp "Berries are also dried and stored for later use." ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]} "Berries smashed and made into a cider-like drink. Cider claimed by Miwok as an appetite stimulant and said to resolve upset stomach." ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]} "Fruit eaten in small quantities. (21:252)... Berries roasted over an open fire and eaten. (6: 17)" ^{[Moerman NAEth]}

Other Uses

• Berries: "berries are used as steelhead trout bait. Berries also dried and used as beads when making bracelets and necklaces." ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]}
  • Seed Oil: "Oil, % on dry wt: 22.2".^(LLCEOPS)
• Dye "A brown dye is obtained from the bark(57, 106), it does not need a mordant(168). Use in spring or summer (168)." ^[PFAF] "The Straits Salish of Vancouver Island sometimes cooked the reddish, papery bark with camas bulbs to colour them pink." ^[PCBC]
• Wood: "Very hard, brittle, durable in water, close grained, heavy, strong." ^[PFAF]
  • "The wood does not split when it dries and so has been used for carving(257)." ^[PFAF] Though it is too hard and brittle for most carving. ^{[Turner&Bell]}
  • Wood sometimes used for making furniture. ^[PFAF] Settlers made stirrups from the hard wood, and the slender trunks were used for lodgepoles. Various small tools, like digging sticks ^EuCp and wooden spoons were also made from the wood.^{[Turner&Bell]} "The wood was used to make canoes..." ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]}
  • "...the firewood is denser than walnut and burns hot and long." ^{[Hemenway GG]}
  • Charcoal: "Employed by early Californians in the making of gunpowder; one reference states that it was highly thought of commercially" ^EuCp "...it produces a fine grade of charcoal." ^[PFAF]
• Fibre: "The inner bark was sometimes used by native North American Indians to make dresses(257)." ^[PFAF]
• Tannin: "The bark is a rich source of tannin(46, 61, 82, 226), it is used medicinally(168). The tannin is also used as a preservative on wood, ropes etc(257)."^[PFAF] Paddles and fishhooks were tanned from the peeled and boiled bark.^{[Turner&Bell]}
• Misc: "The leaves can be used to test the temperature of pitch that is being used to waterproof canoes. When the leaves turn black the pitch is ready to use(257)." ^[PFAF]
• Smoke: The leaves were occasionally smoked for pleasure.^[UAPDS]
• Food coloring: "The Saanich put Arbutus bark in camas steaming-pits to give the bulbs a reddish colour".^{[Turner&Bell]}
• Misc: Arbutus menziesii used by Kashaya tribe to stimulate love and sex. ^[PHVBH]

Medicinal Uses

• Plant:
  • Emetic "Plant eaten to cause vomiting." ^{[Moerman NAEth]}
  • Bark & Leaves: "The bitter principles in the bark and leaves can be used as an astringent(229)."^[PFAF] "Both leaves and bark went into the making of a lotion to bathe sores and cuts, which were said to heal quickly under this treatment. This same cure was used in treating sores on horses." ^EuCp "Saanich and other nations used bark and leaves for treating colds, tuberculosis, to treat stomach problems, and as a postpartum contraceptive." ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]}
• Leaves: "The leaves are stomachic and vulnerary(168, 257). They can be used in the treatment of stomach ache and cramps, colds etc(257)."^[PFAF] The fresh leaves were chewed and the juice swallowed to ease a bad cold. ^{[Turner&Bell]} "...fresh leaves eaten off tree for relieving cramps." ^{[Meuninck EWPUH]} LEAVES; "Same as Arctostaphylos spp." Moore(1995)
  • External Use: The leaves were used externally for rheumatism and burns. ^{[Turner&Bell]} "The leaves can be applied as a poultice to burns(257)."^[PFAF]
• Bark: "An infusion of the bark has been used in the treatment of diabetes and externally to treat sores, cuts and wounds(257). It has also been used as a gargle for sore throats(257)" ^[PFAF]. Bark used to make a tea to cure stomachache ^[EuCp]. The boiled bark, used for diabetes, cuts and wounds.^{[Turner&Bell]} inf of bk drunk for birth control, colds, stomach problems and internal ailmets. ^[Turner1990]
  • Astringent: "Decoction of bark used by women as an astringent to close the pores and make the skin soft." ^{[Moerman NAEth]}
• Cold Medicine: An infusion brewed from the root, bark, or leaves was used as a treatment for colds ^EuCp
• Indications: Diabetes. ^{[Ramzan PESR]}

Phytochemistry

Contains "...one or more antibacterial substances which were active in vitro mainly against Gram-positive and acid-fast bacteria. Their studies indicated the presence of several substances having similar chemical and anti-bacterial activities and the name "madronin" was given to the crude mixture of the active material (1, 2)." It is "...revealed that the active principles were essentially gallotannin and catechol tannin and their various decomposition products of gallic acid, m-digallic acid, trigallic acid, catechol, phloroglucinol, and glucose."^PIAP

Alleleochemicals: "...litter extracts of Pacific Madrone...inhibited radical elongation in germinating Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) seeds." ^{[Waller Allelochemicals]} C6C1-compounds; "...well known to have allelopathic activity". Isolated from Arbutus Sp. and others. "These compounds inhibit the germination and growth of many plants of the California chaparral community. ^{[Reigosa Alleleopathy]}

Cultivation

Arbutus "requires a lime-free nutrient-rich well-drained moisture-retentive soil in sun or semi-shade and shelter from cold drying winds, especially when young(200)". Though it may also succeed "in a limy soil according to another report(182)". It's hardy to about -10^oc(200). "The flowers have a honey-like fragrance which will pervade the whole garden on calm days(245). Trees are slow-growing in the wild, living up to 225 years(229), though they are fairly fast growing in cultivation when young(11). They dislike being transplanted and should be placed in their final positions as soon as possible(11, 134, 166). Give them some protection in their first winter outdoors. This species is notably resistant to honey fungus(200)."^[PFAF]

• "Deer resistant tree" ^[DeerResist]
• "Site: Well drained soil in light shade is best, but plants can take full sun. Soil should be on the dry side. It does not tolerate excess moisture or extremely alkaline conditions." ^{[Steiner NCG]}
• "Defoliation may occur in severe frost conditions, although this rarely destroys the plant. No pruning required." ^{[Steiner NCG]}
• "The madrone is an outstanding tree, luring immense flocks of birds to much the prolific flowers and berries. Its smooth red bark is gorgeous, flaking off each summer to bring birds in search of insects under cracking fragments." ^{[Hemenway GG]}

Mycorrhizae

"Many fungi, normally forming ectomycorrhiza on other host plants, also colonise plants in the genera Arbutus and Arctostaphylos and the family Pyrolaceae, forming arbutoid mycorrhizas. The structures formed usually have a well-developed mantle and Hartig net but, in contrast to ectomycorrhizas, extensive intracellular proliferation of the fungus occurs. In this type of association, as in ectomycorrhiza, the fungus receives reduced carbon from the plant host and supplies the plant with soil nutrients." ^{[BassiriRad NAP]}

• "...the fungus Hebeloma crustulinforme forms ectomycorrhizae with many species of Picea and Pinus, but arbutoid mycorrhizae with Arbutus menziesii. " ^[EncFS]
• "...the ericaceous plants Arbutus menziesii and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi lacked mycorrhizal specificity and could form arbutoid mycorrhizae with a broad range of ECM fungi, including L. deliciosus."^{[Cairney EF]}
• "Massicotte et al. (1994) and Molina et al. (1997) found that following spore inoculation, several Rhizopogon species (Pinaceae specialists) formed arbutoid mycorrhizae with arbutoid hosts (Arbutus or Arctostaphylos spp.) when grown in bioassays with their typical Pinaceae host species, but not when grown in an arbutoid host monoculture." ^{[Horton MN]}
• "Kennedy et al. (2012) describe Arbutus menziesii as a “hub” in the CMN in space and time, promoting ecosystem resiliency by maintaining EM fungal diversity, soil microbial processes, and facilitating the establishment of later seral trees." ^{[Horton MN]}
• On a site in southwest Oregon, of A menziesii intermixed with Pinaceae; "On one site they encountered 126 total fungal taxa on Arbutus, 17 of which also occurred with Pinaceae (Pseudotsuga menziesii and Pinus spp.); in the second site, of 82 total fungal taxa found, 25 colonized Arbutus and Douglas-fir, 13 of which were detected on both hosts in single soil cores." ^{[Horton MN]}

Propagation

The seed is "best surface sown, as it is ripe, in a cold frame. It should be soaked 5-6 days in warm water, before being surface sown in a shady greenhouse position. Cold stratifying for 6 weeks can help. It should germinate within 2-3 months at 20C. Grown in a greenhouse for their first winter, to be planted out in late spring after the last frost."^[PFAF]

Basal cuttings can be taken in late winter.
Cuttings of the mature wood of the current seasons growth, can be fall planted in a frame, but with poor success.
Layering of young wood may take two years,^[PFAF]

Seed Collection: "Arbutus berries can be dried at room temperature or seeds can be separated from the pulp immediately after being collected. Fresh or dried fruit can be soaked in water in a warm place to soften the pulp. Fruits then can be macerated and the seeds separated from the pulp by flotation. Seeds or uncleaned berries should be thoroughly dried, then stored in airtight containers at 2-5°C". ^{[Leadem FSSB]}

Soak 24hrs. Stratification 60 days. ^{[Leadem FSSB]}

Other Info

Protected Species: In Saanich, B.C. "...bylaw prohibits the removal of all Garry oak, arbutus, Pacific dogwood, and other significant native trees more than 5 meters (16.3 feet) tall and 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) in diameter without a permit." ^{[Apostol RPNW]}

ARBUTUS MADRONE

Family: Ericaceae - Heath

Shrub, tree, glabrous to hairy, burled or not.
Stem: erect; bark smooth at first, then shredding or fissured.
Leaf: alternate, evergreen, leathery. Inflorescence: panicle, bracted; bractlets 2.
Flower: sepals 5, fused at base; corolla urn-shaped, petals 5, fused; stamens 10, anthers dehiscing by short separate gaping slits, awns elongate; ovary superior, papillate, chambers 5.
Fruit: berry.
Seed: few per chamber.
20 species: North America, Central America, western Europe, Mediterranean, western Asia. (Latin: name for Arbutus unedo L., strawberry tree) ^[Jepson]

Local Species;

1. Arbutus menziesii - Arbutus ^{[PCBC][E-flora][TSFTK]}

Uses of Other Related Sp.

Arbutus unedo - Arbousier

• (mild Mediterranean climates; also under cultivation in Olympia, WA). ^{[TheNeighForage]} Naturalized in New Zealand. ^{[NewZealandNaturalized]} Endemic in "El Feija mountain areas, located in northeastern Tunisia". ^{[UNIDO Africa]} "...occurs in Mediterranean areas and some northern parts of Spain. " ^[ERWEPS]
  • Lore: "The Romans used it to chase away evil, and also to protect little children. It is also used in exorcisms, and has been since the time of ancient Greece." ^{[EMH Cunningam]}
  • Fruit: "Some fans eat strawberry tree fruit raw, but I find them seedy and insipid unless cooked. Fruit destined for jam, sauces, or pies should be sieved or milled to remove the seeds....Arbouse also mixes well with tarter fruits."^{TheNeighForage} "The berries make a very good wine and a very good alcohol." ^{[Deschauer-2]}
    • "Harvest when the fruits redden in late autumn (before they are ripe they have stone cells like pears and are inedible). They have a sweet, delicate flavour and are eaten fresh, and made into wine and liqueur." ^{[Crawford FFFG]} Berries eaten fresh. ^{[Pieroni EBDBalk]} The fruit are said to be narcotic when added to a fermenting beverage. ^{[Buhner SHHB]} "In Portugal the fruits are processed into liquers such as the Portuguese medronho, a type of strong brandy....may be a good source of antioxidants if consumed as fresh fruit" ^{[Lim EMNMP 2]}
    • "Analysis of Arbutus unedo fruits in Turkey (Seker and Toplu 2010) yielded the following nutrient composition: total soluble solids 16%, titratable acidity 0.4%, protein 2.38%, moisture 47.21%, and ash content 2.82%, fructose 24.09%, glucose 19.09% and ascorbic high 270.50 mg/100 g, The general order of abundance of the minerals was K > Ca > P > Mg > Na."^{[Lim EMNMP 2]}
  • Leaves: Astringent. "The dry leaves and bark are powdered and used for diarrhoea and dysentery." ^{[Deschauer-2]}
  • Roots Used in Tunisia for hypertension.^{[Rai EthPlants]}
  • "Activities (Strawberry Tree) - Antirheumatic (f; EFS); Antiseptic (f; CRC; EFS); Astringent (f; CRC); Intoxicant (f; CRC); Narcotic (f; CRC); Tonic (f; CRC)." ^{[HMH Duke]}

References

• E-flora - http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Arbutus%20menziesii, Accessed Oct 7, 2015
• ERWEPS - Ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants in Spain, Javier Tardio, manuel Pardo-de-santayana, and Ramon Morales, Madrid Spain, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 152, 27-71.
• Jepson - Gary D. Wallace, 2012. Arbutus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=13872, accessed on Mar 26 2014
• Molina,1997 - Biology of the Ectomycorrhizal Genus, Rhizopogon. III. Influence of Co-Cultured Conifer Species on Mycorrhizal Specificity with the Arbutoid Hosts Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and Arbutus menziesii, Randy Molina, Jane E. Smith, Donaraye Mckay and L. H. Melville, New Phytologist, Vol. 137, No. 3 (Nov., 1997), pp. 519-528
• PIAP - Preliminary Identification of the Antibacterial Principle "Madronin" from the Leaves of Arbutus menziesii, BALACHANDRA KABADI and E. ROY HAMMARLUND, Journal of pharmaceutical sciences, Volume 52, 1963
• PFAF - http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Arbutus+menziesii, Accessed Jan 2, 2014
• Turner1990 - Contemporary Use of Bark for Medicine by Two Salish Native Elders of Southeast Vancouver Island, Canada, nancy J. Turner and Richard J. Hebda, Royal B.C. Museum, Victoria B.C., Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 29 (1990) 59-72, Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd.