Menziesia ferruginea Sm.
false azalea (rusty menziesia)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
false azalea (rusty menziesia)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Introduction
Until 2016, two subspecies of this taxon were recognized in BC: ssp. ferruginea and ssp. glabella. Illustrations still reflect the former taxonomy.
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Species Information
General:
Erect to spreading, straggly shrub; stems 0.5-2 m tall, somewhat skunky odour when crushed, finely hairy, hairs somewhat glandular and rusty-coloured; older branches with loosely shredding bark, often glabrous.
Leaves:
Deciduous, alternate, clustered at stem tips, thin, elliptic to broadly egg-shaped, 1-6 cm long, 0.3-2 cm wide, glandular-hairy on both surfaces, pale beneath, margins fine-toothed and fringed; stalks
Flowers:
In (1) 2- to 10-flowered clusters, terminal on shoots of previous year; flower stalks 0.7-3.5 cm long, short-hairy to conspicuously glandular-hairy, curved downward in flower, erect in fruit; corollas salmon to greenish-orange, urn-shaped, 4-lobed, 6-9 mm long; calyces saucer-shaped, indistinctly 4-lobed, 1 mm long or less, glandular-hairy along margins; stamens glabrous to sparsely hairy near the base.
Fruits:
Capsules, egg-shaped to lance egg-shaped, 5-7 mm long.
Notes:
Two infraspecific entities are generally recognized.
1. Leaves pointed, with glandular hairs; calyces glandular-hairy on margins; ovaries glandular-hairy..................ssp. ferruginea
1. Leaves more than pointed, minutely-hairy on both sides, less conspicuously long-hairy above and less glandular below; calyces usually finely hairy as well as glandular hairy on margins; ovaries finely- and glandular-hairy..................ssp. glabella (A. Gray) Calder & Taylor.
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Menziesia ferruginea
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
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|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
935 | 0 | 2750 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
27 | 0 | 420 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
346 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
7466 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(9), BWBS(4), CDF(1), CMA(1), CWH(2692), ESSF(2063), ICH(1344), IDF(32), MH(399), MS(409), PP(1), SBPS(2), SBS(201) | ||
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Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
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Habitat and Range
Dry to wet forests in the lowland, montane and subalpine zones; common on the coast and in WC to NW BC (ssp. ferruginea) and SE BC (ssp. glabella); N to AK and S YT, and S to N CA (ssp. ferruginea), E to W AB, and S to WY, E WA, and OR (ssp. glabella).Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Menziesia ferruginea subsp. glabella (A. Gray) Calder & Roy L. Taylor
Menziesia ferruginea var. glabella (A. Gray) M. Peck
Menziesia glabella A. Gray