Menziesia ferruginea

Smith

Pl. Icon. Ined. 3: plate 56. 1791 ,.

Common names: Fool’s huckleberry mock or false azalea rusty-leaf or rusty or Pacific or smooth menziesia
IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Menziesia ferruginea subsp. glabella (A. Gray) Calder & Roy L. Taylor Menziesia ferruginea var. glabella (A. Gray) M. Peck Menziesia glabella
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 8. Treatment on page 451.

Shrubs erect, branching, often forming thickets, 1–2.5 m, malodorous when bruised, bark of older branches loosely shredding or glabrous, young twigs finely hairy or somewhat glandular-pilose. Leaves: petiole 2–4 mm; blade light green abaxially, oblongelliptic to obovate or ovate-elliptic to elliptic-obovate, 3–6 cm, base cuneate, margins glandular-ciliate, apex acute or rounded with mucronate tip ca. 0.1–0.2 mm, tapering to petiole, abaxial surface stipitate-glandular and/or hairy, midvein scales lanceolate-glandular, not cleft or, rarely, 2-cleft, adaxial surface pilose and/or sparsely stipitate-glandular. Pedicels spreading to drooping, spreading to erect in fruit, filiform, 1–3 cm, stipitate-glandular with ± minute pilose hairs. Flowers appearing with leaves; calyx lobes broadly triangular, 0.5–1 mm, margins lacerate-ciliate, apex rounded to subacute, stipitate-glandular; corolla greenish or yellowish tinged with red or bronze, 6–10 × 5 mm, lobes 1.5 mm; nectariferous disc obscurely 8-crenate; filaments subulate, flattish, slightly dilated proximally, hairy near base; anthers linear; ovary globose, glandular but not hairy. Capsules ovoid to ovoid-oblong, 5–8 mm, glabrous or very sparsely stipitate-glandular and/or puberulent. Seeds pale-brown, linear, 2.5–3 mm including 2 appendages 1 mm each. 2n = 26.


Phenology: Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat: Moist, shady woods and stream banks in lowland, montane, and subalpine zones
Elevation: 700-1900 m

Distribution

V8 891-distribution-map.gif

Alta., B.C., Yukon, Alaska, Calif., Idaho, Mont., Oreg., Wash., Wyo.

Discussion

Menziesia ferruginea is prized as an ornamental, especially because of its autumn coloration. The common name false azalea refers to its habit, in particular the leaves, which bear some resemblance to those of azalea. Native peoples from coastal regions used the leaves and twigs for medicinal, structural, and other purposes. Poisonings due to the andromedotoxins in the leaves have been reported in livestock and humans. NatureServe lists M. ferruginea as secure or apparently secure in most of its range but critically imperiled in Wyoming. There is an unvouchered report in the literature for Minnesota.

Two infraspecific taxa have been recognized and are still in use in some floras. Neither chemical (B. A. Bohm et al. 1984) nor morphological (J. C. Hickman and M. P. Johnson 1969) analyses have unequivocally supported the recognition of these infraspecific taxa. Character differences between var. ferruginea of coastal areas and the Cascade Mountains and var. glabella of the Rocky Mountains are most noticeable between specimens from the extremes of their ranges. Heterogeneity in character states is seen throughout the geographic range of Menziesia ferruginea and intermediate specimens are noticeable, particularly in the more southerly Cascade portion of the range.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"prolonged" is not a number.

... more about "Menziesia ferruginea"
hairy +  and stipitate-glandular +
stipitate-glandular +  and pilose +
stipitate-glandular +
rounded +  and subacute +
Dorothy M. Fabijan +
furrowed +  and smooth +
not flaky +
glandular-pilose +  and hairy +
cuneate +
light green +
oblongelliptic;obovate or ovate-elliptic +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
membranous +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
very sparsely stipitate-glandular and/or puberulent +  and glabrous +
ovoid +  and ovoid-oblong +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
Fool’s huckleberry +, mock or false azalea +  and rusty-leaf or rusty or Pacific or smooth menziesia +
, +, yellowish tinged with red or yellowish tinged with bronze +  and greenish +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
rotate to crateriform campanulate cylindric globose or urceolate +
campanulate;cylindric-urceolate +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (?) +
Alta. +, B.C. +, Yukon +, Alaska +, Calif. +, Idaho +, Mont. +, Oreg. +, Wash. +  and Wyo. +
700-1900 m +
undifferentiated +
fusiform +
dilated +, flattish +  and subulate +
pendulous +  and erect +
ovoid;ovoid-oblong or obovate +
Moist, shady woods and stream banks in lowland, montane, and subalpine zones +
multicellular +
minute +
2-10-flowered +, corymbiform +  and umbelliform +
terminal +  and axillary +
deciduous +
crenulate-serrulate +
glandular-ciliate +
revolute;plane;toothed;entire;revolute;plane;toothed;entire +
2-cleft +, , +  and not cleft +
parietal +, axile +  and placentation +
globose +
tenuinucellate +  and unitegmic +
spreading +  and drooping spreading +
stipitate-glandular +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
persistent +
reduced +
not sticky +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
Flowering May–Jul. +
4-5-carpellate +
Pl. Icon. Ined. +
not +  and winged +
pale-brown +
distinct +
ovoid +  and linear +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +, 0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (?) +  and 0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (?) +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
procumbent +  and prostrate +
creeping +  and sprawling +
straggling +, spreading +  and erect +
hairy +  and glabrous +
peltate +  and capitate +
straight +
Menziesia ferruginea subsp. glabella +, Menziesia ferruginea var. glabella +  and Menziesia glabella +
Menziesia ferruginea +
Menziesia +
species +
membranous +
mucronate +
0.01 cm0.1 mm <br />1.0e-4 m <br /> (0.02 cm0.2 mm <br />2.0e-4 m <br />) +
evergreen +, deciduous +  and perennial +
heterotrophic +, autotrophic +  and mycotrophic +