''Holodiscus discolor'', commonly known as ocean spray or oceanspray, creambush, or ironwood, is a shrub of western
North America.
Description
''Holodiscus discolor'' is a fast-growing
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
shrub usually from to in height, and up to tall. Its alternate
leaves are small, long and broad, lobed, juicy green when new. The young branches have longitudinal ridges.
Cascading clusters of white
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s drooping from the branches give the plant its two common names. The flowers have a faint sweet, sugary scent. The bloom period is May to July.
It bears a small, hairy fruit containing one seed which is light enough to be dispersed by wind.
Distribution and habitat
The plant is common in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...
, and throughout
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
in diverse habitats including
California mixed evergreen forest,
California oak woodland
California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coastal ...
s,
chaparral,
Coast redwood forest,
Douglas-fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...
forest,
Yellow pine forest,
Red fir
''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rare ...
forest, and
Lodgepole pine
''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...
forest. It is native to regions of California including the High
Sierra Nevada, Northern and Southern
California Coast Ranges
The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains.
P ...
,
Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast ...
,
Santa Cruz Mountains, Western
Transverse Ranges
The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa ...
, and the
San Gabriel Mountains.
It is found in both openings and the common
understory
In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abo ...
shrub in a variety of forest overstories from in elevation. In open mountain habitat in the Sierra Nevadas it can be found as high as . It is found in a variety of habitats, from moist coastal forests to drier, cooler mountains of inland California. The plant is found in areas prone to
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
, and it is often the first green shoot to spring up in an area recovering from a burn. It is commonly found in
chaparral communities, a
fire ecology
Fire ecology is a scientific discipline concerned with natural processes involving fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects, the interactions between fire and the abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem, and the role as an ecosystem ...
ecosystem which evolved with burning periodically. It also may grow in areas cleared by
logging.
In the
California black oak woodland plant community, common understory associate species include ''
Toxicodendron diversilobum
''Toxicodendron diversilobum'' (syn. ''Rhus diversiloba''), commonly named Pacific poison oak or western poison oak, is a woody vine or shrub in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. It is widely distributed in western North America, inhabiting coni ...
'' (Western poison-oak), ''
Heteromeles arbutifolia
''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' (; more commonly by Californian botanists), commonly known as toyon, is a common perennial shrub native to extreme southwest Oregon, California, and the Baja California Peninsula. It is the sole species in the genus ...
'' (toyon), and ''
Dryopteris arguta
''Dryopteris arguta'', with the common name coastal woodfern, is a species of wood fern. It is native to the west coast and western interior mountain ranges of North America, from British Columbia, throughout California, and into Arizona.
It gr ...
'' (coastal wood fern).
Ecology
It is of special value as a pollinator plant for native bees and butterflies. It is also a larval host to
Lorquin's admiral,
pale tiger swallowtail, and
spring azure caterpillars.
Uses
Historically, the plant has been used by Indigenous peoples for many purposes. Raw and cooked seeds were eaten, and leaves were mixed with those of other plants and boiled with small game animals. Many tribes used the wood and bark for making tools and furniture. Noted for the strength of its wood, it was often used for making digging sticks, spears, arrows, bows, harpoons and nails. The wood, like with many other plants, was often hardened with fire and was then polished using
horsetail
''Equisetum'' (; horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of ferns, which reproduce by spores rather than seeds.
''Equisetum'' is a "living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass ...
.
Comox natives use oceanspray when flowering as an indicator of the best time to dig for butter clams.
"The effects of climate change on wild plant life cycles"
; Susan Mazer, PhD, Liz Matthews, PhD, National Park Service.
Medicinal
The Lummi
The Lummi ( ; Lummi: ''Xwlemi'' ; also known as Lhaq'temish (), or ''People of the Sea''), governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group. They are based in the coastal area of the Pacific N ...
used the flowers as an antidiarrheal
An anti-diarrhoeal drug (or anti-diarrheal drug in American English) is any medication which provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea.
Types
* Electrolyte solutions, while not true antidiarrhoeals, are used to replace lost fluids and salts in ac ...
and the leaves as a poultice
A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds, such as cuts.
'Poultice ...
. Several Native American tribes, such as the Stl'atl'imx, would steep the berries in boiling water to use as a treatment for diarrhea, smallpox, chickenpox and as a blood tonic.
References
External links
*
Calflora Database: ''Holodiscus discolor'' (Cream bush, Oceanspray)
Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Holodiscus discolor''
USDA Plants Profile for ''Holodiscus discolor'' (oceanspray)
UC Photos gallery of ''Holodiscus discolor'' (oceanspray)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3139473
discolor
Flora of British Columbia
Flora of California
Flora of Idaho
Flora of Oregon
Flora of Washington (state)
Flora of the Cascade Range
Flora of the Klamath Mountains
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area
Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
Taxa named by Frederick Traugott Pursh
Plants used in traditional Native American medicine
Garden plants of North America
Butterfly food plants