Arbutus menziesii, or Pacific madrone (commonly madrone or madrona in the United States and arbutus in Canada), is a species of broadleaf evergreen tree in the family Ericaceae. It has waxy foliage, a contorted growth habit, and flaky bark.

Members of the genus are called madrones or madronas in the United States, from the Spanish name madroño (strawberry tree). On the south coast of British Columbia, Canada, where the species is common, arbutus is commonly used or, rarely and locally, "tick tree".

Names: The Pacific Madrone is the only common broadleaved evergreen tree in our region. It is known by many names. In the northwest it is more familiarly called Madrona, whereas in California it is more often called Madrone or sometimes Coast Madrono (Madrono is Spanish for Strawberry tree).

2021年6月3日 · Twisting skyward, the smooth, reddish-brown branches of a Pacific madrone tree are striking. Esteemed botanist, Willis Linn Jepson, described it as “a tree than which none other in the western woods is more marked by sylvan beauty.”

2017年11月27日 · Pacific madrone is a large, long-lived tree that naturally occurs in a climate with mild, wet winters and dry summers, although rainfall varies substantially within its range, from the east coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, southward through Washington and Oregon (west of the Cascades) to San Diego County.

Exquisite, Arbutus menziesii (Madrone) is a spreading evergreen tree with an elegant, wide-branching habit and leathery, lustrous dark green leaves, 6 in. long (15 cm). In spring, a profusion of drooping clusters of urn-shaped, white flowers hang at the tip of the branches.

In the wild, our native Pacific madrone grows into large noble trees. The majority grow 50-75 feet tall. However, In Humboldt County, California (see black and white photo right), one tree grows 96 feet tall by 113 feet wide; its trunk measures 24 feet and is estimated to be about 600 years old.

Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) is one of the most widely distributed tree species native to the Pacific coast. Named for its discoverer, Archibald Menzies, a 19th century Scottish physician and naturalist, the species is called arbutus in Canada, and madrone, madroñia, or madroño in the United States.

Common name: Madrone or Madrona are derived from the Spanish name, Madroño, the name for the closely related Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo) of the Mediterranean region.

Non-locals are now wondering: so what IS a madroño tree? For some reason madroño is translated as strawberry trees, even though we all know that strawberries grow on vines, and that the madroño fruit doesn’t look like a strawberry.