Arctostaphylos tomentosa
| Arctostaphylos tomentosa | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 8 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-6.5 |
| Evergreen Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 5' |
| Blooms: | Early Spring-Late Spring |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Arctostaphylos tomentosa (common name: downy manzanita)
Propagation: Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe. Pre-soak dried seed in boiling water for 10 - 20 seconds or burn some straw on top of them and then stratify at 2 - 5°c for 2 months[1][2]. The seed usually germinates in 2 - 3 months at 15°c[3]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame or greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer.
Cuttings of side shoots of the current season's growth, 5 - 8cm with a heel, August to December in a frame. The cuttings are very slow and can take a year to root[4][5].
Division in early spring. Take care because the plant resents root disturbance. Pot the divisions up and keep them in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are growing away actively.
Layering in spring[2].
Cultivation: Requires a deep moist well-drained light or medium lime-free loam[1][6][2] in sun or semi-shade but plants produce less fruit when they are grown in the shade[2]. Tolerates maritime exposure.
This species is not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to between -5 and -10°c[2].
Very closely related to A. columbiana but with a more southerly range[1].
Plants can regenerate after a forest fire from a mallee-like base[6].
Plants resent root disturbance and should be placed in their final positions as soon as possible[1][3].
Range: South-western N. America - California.
Habitat: Sandy places[7] on the edge of Pinus radiata forests and on windy coastal bluffs below 150 metres[6].
Edibility: Fruit - raw or cooked[8][9][10][11]. Sweet, dry and mealy[12]. An important food for native tribes, it can also be dried for winter use[13]. When dried and baked into a bread it is relished by the native Indian tribes[8]. If harvested when not quite ripe, it can be used like a tart apple[8]. A cooling sub-acid drink can be made from the fruit[8][14]. The fruit is about 8 - 10mm in diameter[2].
Seed - ground into a powder and used to make mush, biscuits etc[9][14]. The seed is very small and would be difficult to separate from the fruit. It would be easier to dry the whole fruit, grind this into a powder and use it in soups etc[K].
Medicinal: The dried leaves are used in the treatment of a variety of complaints[15]. These leaves should be harvested in early autumn, only green leaves being selected, and then dried in gentle heat[15]. A tea made from the dried leaves is strongly astringent, diuretic and an antiseptic for the urinary tract[15][16]. It is much used for kidney and bladder complaints and inflammation of the urinary tract, but it should be used with caution[15][17][18][19] because it contains arbutin which hydrolyzes into the toxic urinary antiseptic hydroquinone[16].
An infusion of the bark powder has been used in the treatment of lung haemorrhages[14].
A cider made from the fruit has been used as an appetizer to create appetite and treat stomach complaints[14]. Although the report does not specify, the cider was probably unfermented[K].
Usage: A yellowish-brown dye is obtained from the leaves, it does not require a mordant[20].
The wood is used for making fine furniture[12].
Pollinators: Bees, self
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates maritime wind exposure
In Leaf: Evergreen
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: A. cordifolia. A. vestita. Arbutus tomentosa.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan, 1988.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Taylor, Jane. The Milder Garden. Dent, 1990.
- ↑ Munz, David. A California Flora. University of California Press, 1959.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Balls, Edward. Early Uses of Californian Plants. University of California Press, 1975.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Schofield, Janice. Discovering Wild Plants.
- ↑ Grae, Ida. Nature's Colors. MacMillan Publishing, 1974.