Took my camera hiking through Annadel yesterday afternoon and decided to snap a few shots of the manzanita trees. I’d never seen a manzanita before moving to California.
They have a rather striking red bark that looks like the trees have been painted with an orange-maroon acrylic paint. I decided to play a little with flickr, so I put a few of the best shots up in a manzanita set.
I’m pretty sure I don’t know the difference, though some have said madrones are just bigger manzanitas. I can’t say for certain that the above is one or the other.
I’m also a big fan of the eucalyptus trees, it makes the California countryside look like France (or what I imagine France to look like).
yes, madrones are bigger and even more beautiful than manzanitas, especially when they blossom in the spring. There are tons of them up here in mendo.
Manzanitas are a different genus than madronas. Arbutus menziesii & are
not as prolific in California as they need the wetter climate & better soil of
the Pacific NW. They are rare & only grow well in two places in the world:
the Pacific coast between British Columbia & southern Oregon & around the Mediterranean. Tall and graceful, madronas are an ancient tree that cannot be cultivated & will only grow in the wild. Some of the oldest & most beautiful stands can be found in the older parks in Seattle.
Manzanita is the common name for the genus Arctostaphylos of the family Ericaceae. There are probably forty or fifty different varieties in Ca and they all bear a surface resmbalance to madronas, but are quite different. They love the arid climate & sandy soil of the coast, but you’ll find them in the deserts and in the high sierras as well. Extremely long lived and endangered, they are lovely. Hummingbirds love the nectar int he spring & one specie (bearberry) has edible berries that can be made into jelly. Uva Ursi is a very low grouwing member of the family that is used in herbal medicine. All about manzanitas: http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/manzanita_arctostaphylos/Manzanita.html
Happy photographing– these are lovely !
LK,
Interesting comment about the inability to cultivate madronas. I just transplanted six 4-foot trees with that beautiful burnt orange bark yesterday. These were thinned out of a group of 20 bare-root starts (6″-12″) that are now two-years old. Despite being warned that they may be difficult to start, 100% of my starts have not only survived, but are thriving.
These are available through the King and Snohomish Conservation District’s annual plant sales.
My goal is transform our sloping 5 acres with these majestic trees that I grew up with in Seattle and hopefully live long enough to take pictures of their knarly trunks when mature.
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look for madrone also.