Arizona Madrone

Arizona madrone
Arizona madrono

More info for the terms: fruit, shrub, tree

Arizona madrone is a native, broadleaf, evergreen tree or shrub [11].
Stout, spreading branches form a compact, round-topped crown [21]. It
grows 19 to 50 feet (6-15 m) tall with a diameter of 18 to 24 inches
(46-61 cm) [11,21,22,28]. The bark is smooth, thin, and peels off in
sheets [7,11,21]. Thick, oblong leaves are leathery, and 2 to 3 inches
(5-7.2 cm) long. The fruit is a mealy, sweet berry. The berry contains
many seeds [25,27,28].

Arizona madrone has a limited distribution. It is found in the
foothills and lower mountains of southern Arizona and New Mexico, and
northern Mexico [11,22,25].

More info for the terms: fire regime, root crown, top-kill, woodland

Arizona madrone has thin bark, which makes it susceptible to fire damage.
It sprouts from the root crown after top-kill [34]. Published information
on the fire ecology of Arizona madrone is sparse. Further research is
needed in this area [1].

Fire is infrequent and has a minor role in the riparian communities in
which Arizona madrone is a component; however, fire occurs frequently in
the pine-oak woodland types in which it also occurs [17].

Arizona madrone in the Chiricahua and Santa Catalina Mountains of
Arizona has survived fire. In a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)/oak
community, an Arizona madrone had eight fire scars, indicating frequent
fires [31].

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

More info for the term: prescribed fire

Arizona madrone occurs in canyons that are often involved in prescribed
fire programs within the Madrean evergreen woodlands [1].

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

Phanerophyte

More info for the terms: frequency, mesic

Arizona madrone is found in mesic canyons, on lower slopes, and mountain
sides [1]. It occurs on well-drained, gravelly, and sunny sites [7,28].
Arizona madrone is confined to moist riparian areas at low elevations
(1,600 to 2,200 feet [487-671 m]) but occurs more commonly at elevations
from 4,000 to 8,000 feet (1,219-2,438 m) [6,11,28,30]. It occurs on a
variety of soils formed from resideual or colluvial parent materials
[33]. Arizona madrone is often on open, north-facing or intermediate
east- and west-facing slopes. In the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona,
its highest frequency (23 percent) was on north-facing slopes [30].

The climate is semiarid to arid with bimodal rainy seasons (July to
September and December to March) [1,5,30]. Rainfall is variable with
mean annual precipitation from 11 to 20 inches (280-500 mm).

Common associated species are New Mexico locust (Robina neomexicana),
silverleaf oak (Quercus hypoleucoides), netleaf oak (Q. rugosa), Apache
pine (Pinus engelmannii), and Chihuahua pine (Pinus leiophylla var.
chihuahuana) [5,6,24,29,32]. Other associated species are longtongue
muhly (Muhlenbergia longiligula) and New Mexico groundsel(Senecio
neomexicanus) [33].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

237 Interior ponderosa pine
239 Pinyon - juniper
240 Arizona cypress
241 Western live oak

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the terms: forest, woodland

K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands

Arizona madrone has thin bark and is top-killed by fire [34].

Arizona madrone is rarely browsed except by goats [22]. Its fruits are
eaten by mammals and birds and may be an important food source for some
species, such as the elegant trogan [32]. Arizona madrone may provide
nest sites for cavity-nesting or other birds.

More info for the terms: forest, mesic, woodland

Arizona madrone is widespread in mesic areas of the Madrean (i.e.,
Sierra Madre) evergreen woodlands, extending up into the mixed
coniferous forest [1,4,13]. Additionally, it is a minor component of
two riparian community types: (1) Arizona sycamore/American ash
(Platanus wrightii/Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and (2) Arizona sycamore
[24]. Arizona madrone is an important species within the oak-pine
woodland, especially the pygmy conifer-oak scrub (Pinus
cembroides-Juniperus deppeana-Quercus arizonica, Q. emoryi) [5,17,30].
It is also found in drier adjacent communities with buckbrush (Ceanothus
huichugore) [4,18]. It is listed as a minor seral species in the
following classification:

Forest and woodland habitat types (plant associations) of Arizona south
of the Mogollon Rim and southwestern New Mexico [33].

More info for the terms: shrub, tree

Tree, Shrub

AZ NM MEXICO

More info for the term: fruit

The fruit of Arizona madrone has narcotic properties, and the bark is
used as an astringent [21].

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New leaves of Arizona madrone are put out in May and again after the
summer rains; these leaves persist about 1 year [21]. Arizona madrone
flowers from April to May or June [3,11,28]. Fruits ripen October
through November [21,28].

More info for the term: top-kill

Arizona madrone sprouts from the root corwn after top-kill by fire [34].

Madrean evergreen woodlands in Arizona were prescribed burned in 1983.
In 1989 and 1990, no sprouting or germination of Arizona madrone was
found. The small, slow-moving fires may have caused root damage to
Arizona madrone, which suppressed sprouting or killed the plants [32].

More info for the terms: caudex, root crown, secondary colonizer, seed

survivor species; on-site surviving root crown or caudex
off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the terms: root crown, seed, top-kill

Arizona madrone reproduces sexually by seed. Fleshy, bright-colored
fruits may be animal disseminated, as are the fruits of another madrone
species (Arbutus unedo) [10,16]. Madrone species, including Arizona
madrone, sprout from the root crown after top-kill by burning or other
disturbance [10,14,15,34]. Arizona madrone grows slowly [27].

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

7 Lower Basin and Range
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont

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Little information was found in the literature about the successional
status of Arizona madrone. It reportedly occurs as a mid- to late seral
species [32]. Based upon the performance of other members of this
genus, Arizona madrone is most likely a facultative seral species.
Another madrone species (Arbutus unedo) that holds a similar ecological
role in Corsican woodlands is a mid-successional species [16].

Arbutus xalapensis var. arizonica Gray

The currently accepted scientific name of Arizona madrone is Arbutus
arizonica (Gray) Sarg. [11,25]. It is a member of the heather family
(Ericaceae). There are no recognized subspecies, varieties, or forms.

Arizona madrone has light-colored sapwood that is close grained, heavy,
soft, and brittle. The wood has a specific gravity of approximately
0.71. Arizona madrone has been used to manufacture charcoal and
gunpowder [22,28].

Arbutus arizonica (A. Gray) Sargent, Garden & Forest 4: 317
1891.
Arbutus xalapensis arizonica A. Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Am. ed. 2. 2^: 396. 1886.
A tree 20 m. tall, the bark of the trunk ashy-gray or whitish, the branchlets red, or a shrub; leaves pale-green, the blades narrowly oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 4—9 cm. long, mostly acute or acuminate, entire or obscurely toothed, glabrous, at least at maturity, abruptly narrowed or rounded at the base, rather slender-petioled ; panicles 3-7.5 cm. long, the rachis and pedicels somewhat sparingly fine-pubescent; calyx 4^5 mm. wide, the lobes ovate, acute or acutish; corolla 6-7 mm. long; stamens about 3 mm. long, the filaments villous at the dilated base; ovary glabrous; berries globose or oval, 7-9 mm. long, orange-red.
Type locality: Mountains of southern Arizona. Distribution : Arizona and Sonora to Coahuila.

Arbutus arizonica, commonly known as Arizona madrone, is a tree species in the heath family that is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Its range extends along the Sierra Madre Occidental cordillera from the Madrean Sky Islands of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico south as far as Jalisco. It has been found in Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa, with one isolated population in Tamaulipas.

Arbutus arizonica is a tree that grows up to 45 ft (14 m), and has pinkish-brown bark. The fruit is an orange-red berry. The fruits are edible by humans and used by some indigenous peoples.