The Arbutus Tree: Nature’s Adolescent Evergreen
The Arbutus tree is like an awkward adolescent who is neither adult nor child – a hot mess of hormones, twisted limbs and facial warfare. Technically an evergreen, the Arbutus has green leaves instead of cones. But unlike the deciduous giants of the Pacific Northwest, the Garry Oak and Broadleaf Maple, the leafs of the Arbutus remain through the winter. It has distinguished bark like a Douglas Fir or a Hemlock, but it sheds it, exposing a baby-faced yellow trunk. It is an anomaly, an outsider, a horticultural puzzle, left on the coast for us to gaze on and wonder at.
The name Arbutus, comes from the Latin name for ‘strawberry tree’, a plant that grows in Europe along the Mediterranean and as far north as Ireland. Archibald Menzies, a botanist onboard Captain Vancouver’s ship The Discovery, first compared the Pacific Northwest Arbutus to the European shrub. Menzies surname would later be used as the epithet, while the Latin Arbutus was provided as the genus.
The physical outline of the tree resembles a deciduous, with divergent orange and red-knotted limbs that seem more interested in the coastal rock than a skyward reach. Growing to a maximum of 30m (100 ft), the tree can gain some height, but only over time. The reddish trunk, unlike its fellow evergreens, splits almost immediately after its break from the soil into numerous limbs of different circumferences.
The leaves are dark and glossy, with an elongated oval shape and a slight leathery feel. After two years on the tree, they will dry and fall, but not necessarily in autumn.
The tree has small urn-like flowers in the spring that look very similar to it’s European namesake. They have a soft fragrant smell that adds to the spring scent bouquet on the West Coast.
In the fall, the tree produces red berries that are somewhat edible. The berries are used more for jams and ciders than eating raw.
Another odd fact about the Arbutus is that it loves the sun. It exists no less than 8km from the coast, seemingly requiring the warm rays of our star and the salty spray of the ocean. It can grow in very thin soil conditions, often taking root on rocky outcrops, flanked by Douglas Firs, salal and Gary Oaks.
The Coast Salish people believed that the Arbutus acted as an anchor during the great flood. As water started to swallow up the land, the people gathered everything and climbed aboard their canoes. To keep the canoes from drifting, the elders tied the canoes to the dense wood of the Arbutus, effectively securing their boats in place.
In the 1900s, artists like Emily Carr would become infatuated with the tree, bringing its strong colours and flowing form to the canvas. Now, almost every coastal gallery you visit has at least one piece featuring the orange and green evergreen.
While designed perfectly for long hot summers and windy blistering winters, the Arbutus is beginning to suffer from the effects of climate change and human development. The roots of the Arbutus are excellent at clinging to the coast, but they are dangerously susceptible to root rot. Canker fungus and other pathogens are becoming more prominent on the coast and destroying many of the older trees. At the same time, the coastal habitat that the Arbutus desires is rapidly being developed for desirable waterfront properties.
If the rate of loss was to increase, many species would be affected. Soil erosion would increase along the coast, small woodland animals would be deprived of shade and housing and birds like the Rufus hummingbird would loose a vital food supply. We need to properly manage the remaining Arbutus trees and prolong their awkwardness for future coastal citizens to enjoy.
