- Is Arbutus the name in Canada for Manzanita? How are Arbutus propagated?
The name Manzanita refers to Arctostaphylos columbiana (hairy manzanita). It hybridizes where their ranges overlap with Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (kinnikinnik). It is a low evergreen shrub found on dry sunny rocky spots with slightly acid soil on low elevations on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island and Oregon.
Arbutus menziesii refers to the arbutus tree, or Pacific Madrone. It is found on dry, sunny, rocky sites frequently with coarse textured soils at low to middle elevations and is typically associated with Douglas-fir and Garry oak. It is a distinctive species of tree growing on the extreme south west of BC south to Baja, California.
It has a seasonal deciduous period (July and August) when all the previous year’s leaves fall, with the current year’s leaves remaining. It is both an evergreen and deciduous tree. It’s a broadleaf, growing 6 to 30 m tall. There are often many stems to the base making it shrub-like. The young bark is chartreuse and smooth, aging to a red brown and peeling. Flowers bloom mid spring with large drooping terminal clusters. Corollas are white or pinkish, urn shaped, 6 to 8mm long and fragrant. Leaves are alternate, evergreen, oval to 15 cm long, dark shiny green above, whitish green below, hairless, without teeth except on young growth. Fruits are orange red about 1cm across, surface finely granular, not eaten by humans but popular with birds.
The arbutus reproduces more vegetatively than by seed. After a disturbance like fire burls at the base of the tree produce root crown sprouts forming a multi trunked tree. Bees and possibly hummingbirds pollinate its flowers.
Arbutus are protected trees in both Saanich and Victoria.
Successive years of fungal blights, drought, climate change and human disturbance have diminished their numbers. If you have arbutus growing on your property they should be watered in dry weather and pruning reduced.
People who have tried to grow arbutus from seed report low success rate.
Sources:
https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/growing-arbutus-from-seed.72432/
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/islands-stately-arbutus-trees-wither-in-seasons-of-change-4688336
Plants of Coastal British Columbia (1994). Pojar, J. and Mackinnon, A. Lone Pine publishing. Vancouver, BC.
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