IMPORTANT WESTERN BROWSE PLANTS 123 
very local, often occurs in inaccessible places, and is normally re- 
jected by grazing animals. It is known, however, to have killed 
sheep (/7). Its evergreen leaves would doubtless prove a tempta- 
tion if livestock were admitted to an andromeda area too early in 
the spring. 
MADRONES (ARBUTUS SPP.) 
Arbutus is a small genus of both hemispheres, closely allied to 
the manzanitas (Arctostaphylos spp.) ; the species are mostly small 
trees. In the United States the genus is confined to the Pacific 
States and the Southwest, where four species are found. 
Pacific madrone (A. menziesii), often but incorrectly called Cali- 
fornia-laurel and more usually known simply as madrone or ma- 
drofio, is probably the best known species. This highly ornamental 
species ranges from Vancouver Island and southern British Colum- 
bia to California (west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada) and 
probably extends into northern Lower California. In its more 
northern range it is often a large tree. The species is found on a 
very considerable variety of sites, at low to moderate elevations, 
reaching its largest size in humid coastal sites, and is usually shrubby 
in dry, sunny, or sterile sites. It is a frequent component of the 
understory in redwood, Douglas fir, live oak, and western yellow 
pine forests. Goats will crop the leaves and sprouts with consider- 
able avidity, and sometimes will peel the bark. Occasionally cattle 
will graze it lightly, but this is usually due to shortage of more 
palatable vegetation. 
The fruit of madrone is eaten extensively by deer, and Chesnut 
(18) reports it a favorite food of doves, wild pigeons, turkeys, and 
poultry. It produces tanbark and is a famous bee plant. The leaves 
are reported to possess medicinal properties. 
Texas madrone (A. texana), also called madrofio, perhaps only a 
variety or form of Mexican madrone or madrofio (A. xalapensis), 
is a common and somewhat similar species found in foothills of 
western Texas and southern New Mexico and is occasionally browsed 
by goats and cattle. 
Arizona madrone or madroftio (A. arizonica) seems not to be 
grazed, except possibly by goats. 
MANZANITAS (ARCTOSTAPHYLOS SPP.) 
Manzanitas form an essentially west-American, primarily Cali- 
fornian, group of about 40 species of shrubs and small trees, of 
which all but bearberry (Arctostaphylos wva-ursi) are confined. to 
western and southwestern North America. Mainly their branches 
are tortuous and the leaves thick and persistent evergreen. Many 
of the species hold their leaves in a vertical position by a twist of the 
petiole, or leafstalk—apparently a device to reduce transpiration. 
Manzanita is one of the most characteristic chaparral genera of 
California and Oregon, covering millions of acres, mainly slopes and 
burns, with a more or less impenetrable thicket of intertwined 
branches. The majority of the species reproduce extensively by root 
shoots, and so tend to survive fires and to occupy burned-over tim- 
berlands. In these two States manzanitas are largely regarded as 
pests, the problem being how to supplant them with a type of vege- 
