Menziesia
Menziesia ferruginea
false azalea, menziesia
false azalea, false huckleberry, fool's-huckleberry, mock azalea, rusty menziesia, rusty-leaf or rusty or Pacific or smooth menziesia
erect, spreading, or straggling;
young twigs minutely pilose and hairy; (older twigs without peglike projections).
deciduous, alternate, (crowded toward branch tips);
petiole present;
blade membranous, margins crenulate-serrulate, (rolled under in bud, abaxial surface 1/3+ visible except sometimes in bud).
petiole 2–4 mm;
blade light green abaxially, oblong-elliptic 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.
terminal umbelliform or corymbiform clusters on previous year’s shoots, 2–10-flowered;
perulae ± persistent, scarious, margins minutely ciliate.
spreading to drooping, spreading to erect in fruit, filiform, 1–3 cm, stipitate-glandular with ± minute pilose hairs.
bisexual, ± bilaterally symmetric;
sepals 4[–5], connate ca. 3/4 their lengths;
petals 4[–5], connate for ca. 2/3 their lengths, corolla deciduous, cylindric-urceolate, soon campanulate, (glabrous or finely puberulent adaxially);
stamens 8 [5 or 10], included;
anthers without awns, dehiscent adaxially by 2 longitudinal, terminal slits;
ovary 4[–5]-locular;
style included;
stigma capitate.
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.
capsular, ovoid to ovoid-oblong or obovate, dehiscence basipetally septicidal.
ovoid to ovoid-oblong, 5–8 mm, glabrous or very sparsely stipitate-glandular and/or puberulent.
ca. 50–90, linear or narrowly ovoid, ± prolonged to form apiculate tip or elongate appendage, without wings;
testa smooth, membranous.
pale brown, linear, 2.5–3 mm including 2 appendages 1 mm each.
= 13.
= 26.
Menziesia
Menziesia ferruginea
Species 7–10 (2 in the flora).
A close relationship of Menziesia and Rhododendron is hypothesized based on matK analysis. The slightly zygomorphic flowers of the 5-merous Menziesia are similar to those in many species of Rhododendron. Flattened multicellular scales present on the abaxial midrib are also found in Rhododendron sect. Tsususi and on closely related Tsusiophyllum, prompting K. A. Kron (1997) to suggest including both taxa within Rhododendron. Inclusion of Menziesia within Rhododendron is implied also by matK and trnK intron sequence analysis (Y. Kurashige et al. 2001), although its exact relationship remains unresolved.
Levels of genetic diversity among populations in North American Menziesia are quite low relative to gene diversity within populations as indicated by isozyme, flavonoid, and morphological studies, possibly indicating a recent evolutionary origin (T. C. Wells and B. A. Bohm 1994). Divergence between M. pilosa and M. ferruginea from a common widespread ancestor could have occurred as recently as the Pleistocene, some 300,000 to 800,000 years before present. Isozyme data suggest a time of divergence between the Coast/Cascade and Rocky Mountain phenotypes of M. ferruginea of only 60,000 to 80,000 years before present, coincident with the Wisconsin Glaciation, which may have had some effect on north–south and east–west divergences of morphological and isozyme forms (Wells and Bohm).
Species of Menziesia occur in mid to late successional-stage forests in temperate to subalpine habitats. The flowers are pollinated by bumblebees (Bombus Latreille spp.) and other bees. The fine seeds are gravity-dispersed but are apparently susceptible to some dispersal by air currents.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Abaxial leaf surfaces stipitate-glandular and/or hairy, midvein scales lanceolate, not cleft or, rarely, 2-cleft; filaments hairy near base; capsules glabrous or very sparsely stipitate-glandular and/or puberulent; seeds pale brown, linear, 2.5-3 mm including 2 appendages of 1 mm each; w North America. | M. ferruginea |
1. Abaxial leaf surfaces densely pilose, midvein scales narrowly oblong, lacerate or cleft; filaments glabrous; capsules densely stipitate-glandular; seeds brown, narrowly ovoid, ca. 1 mm including apiculuslike appendage of 0.1 mm; se United States | M. pilosa |
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
