Urban Landscape, Native Landscape: Ericaceae: The Heath Family

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Ericaceae: The Heath Family

Erica australis February 2009

Erica manipuliflora September 2009

Arctostaphylos columbiana April 2009

Rhododendron campylogynum January 2009

Rhododendron yakushimanum May 2009

Ericaceae is an important family of plants for Seattle gardens. Northwest natives, as well as favorites from Europe & Asia are among the ericaceous shrubs. The family was named for the genus Erica (Heath). Most members of the family have clusters of urn-shaped flowers, although some like Rhododendron have bell-shaped flowers, as though the urn had split into lobes. As a family many share a distinctive rounded form & branching pattern. They are mostly evergreen with leathery leaves. There is a great wealth of different & pleasing shrubs among Rhododendron species. The same is true of Arctostaphylos (Manzanita). These 2 thrive in very different environments. The center of Rhododendron diversity is in the moist & forested Himalayas. Manzanitas are centered in the dry chaparral of southwestern North America. Useful Northwest native plants in this family include Arctostaphylos columbiana (Hairy Manzanita), Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick), Arbutus menziesii (Madrona) & Gaultheria shallon (Salal).

Trees

Arbutus menziesii (Madrona)

Arbutus unedo (Strawberry Tree)

Arbutus ‘Marina’

Rhododendron rex

Shrubs

Arctostaphylos columbiana (Hairy Manzanita)

Calluna vulgaris (Heather)

Comarostaphylis diversifolia (Summer Holly)

Daboecia cantabrica (Irish Heath)

Enkianthus campanulatus

Erica arborea (Tree Heath)

Gaultheria shallon (Salal)

Kalmia latifolia (Mountain Laurel)

Leucothoe walteri

Menziesia ferruginea (Fool’s Huckleberry)

Pieris japonica (Lily of the Valley Shrub)

Pernettya mucronata

Rhododendron yakushimanum

Zenobia pulverulenta

Groundcovers

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick)

Gaultheria procumbens (Wintergreen)

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This blog began in 2008 as Metropolitan Gardens to provide information on gardening in Seattle & places like it. Click on Gardening in Cascadia. The blog expanded to include Parks P-Patches Public Gardens in the US, Canada & Europe. Then Nature was added. (The difference between nature & gardens is intent. Nature happens. Gardens are planned.) Many recent posts are not about Seattle, or even Cascadia. They are Urban Landscape: streetscape & architecture. Cascadia is the region including the Cascade Mountains of Washington & Oregon. If you want to contact the blogger, leave a message in comments. Comments are moderated & private messages will not be posted.

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The city of Seattle rests between 2 bodies of water: Puget Sound & Lake Washington. Puget Sound is a substantial part of the Salish Sea & a very small part of the Pacific Ocean. The Salish Sea is set apart from the Pacific by the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington & Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. The dense, wet clouds of the Pacific Ocean travel as far as the Cascade Mountains, near the Salish Sea & not very far from the ocean. East of the Cascades lies the desert of the Columbia Basin. The moist, temperate climate of Seattle extends south to northern California & north to southeastern Alaska. The Pacific Northwest Coast from San Francisco Bay to Cook Inlet shares a flora dominated by evergreen coniferous forest. The central portion, west of the Cascade Mountains, is called Cascadia. The climate is cool & wet from fall to spring, warm & dry in summer. The Olympic Mountains block Seattle from much of the Pacific rainfall. Seattle is drier than the Atlantic coast of North America & northern Europe, cooler in summer & warmer in winter. It lies near the latitude of Paris & Quebec City.