MADRONO (Arbutus M enziesii, Pursh.). A shrub or stately 

 tree, distinguished by shiny, evergreen foliage, a reddish- 

 brown trunk, and the thin red bark of the limbs and upper 

 stem, which peels off in cinnamon-like quills, and reveals an 

 under-bark of green. The mature leaves are 2^ to 5 inches 

 long, leathery like those of magnolias. They turn in summer 

 to tones of red and fall to the ground, which then becomes gay 

 with the mingled reds of ripened foliage and bark. The 

 flowers are w r axen-white, urn-shaped, individually small but 

 borne in large, showy clusters resembling Lilies of the Valley, 

 and appear in February and early spring. In the autumn 

 these are succeeded by the abundant, berry-like fruit, which is 

 brilliant orange-red in color, each berry about the size of a pea. 



The Madrono is at its best in the Coast Ranges from the 

 neighborhood of San Francisco to Puget Sound, though it is 

 met with sparingly as far south as Mexico. The name dates 

 from the Spanish settlement of California, Madrono being the 

 Spanish for the European Strawberry-tree (Arbutus Unedo) 

 for which our tree was at first mistaken. 



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