Arbutus arizonica, commonly known as Arizona madrone, is a tree species in the heath family that is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Its range extends along the Sierra Madre Occidental cordillera from the Madrean Sky Islands of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New MexicoBiota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map south as far as Jalisco. It has been found in Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa, with one isolated population in Tamaulipas.SEINet, Southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona chapter photos, description, distribution map Arbutus arizonica is a tree that grows up to 45 ft, and has pinkish-brown bark. The fruit is an orange-red berry.Flora of North America, Arbutus arizonica (A. Gray) Sargent, 1891. Arizona madrone The fruits are edible by humans and used by some indigenous peoples.Laferrière, Joseph E., Charles W. Weber and Edwin A. Kohlhepp. 1991a. Use and nutritional composition of some traditional Mountain Pima plant foods. Journal of Ethnobiology 11(1):93-114.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
⚠ sources differ — GIFT: 12.17 m · USDA: 9.14 m · TRY: 13.72 m
Seed mass227 mg
Life cycle & reproduction25
Bloom periodLate Spring
Coppice potentialNo
Deciduousnessevergreen
Dispersal typeanimal
Flower colourwhite
Flower conspicuousYes
Fruit seed period beginSummer
Fruit seed period endFall
Growth rate USDASlow
Life formtree
Life spanperennial
Lifespan categoryLong
Propagated by bare rootYes
Propagated by bulbNo
Propagated by containerYes
Propagated by cormNo
Propagated by cuttingsNo
Propagated by seedYes
Propagated by sodNo
Propagated by sprigsNo
Propagated by tubersNo
Resprout abilityYes
Seed spread rateSlow
Seedling vigorMedium
Vegetative spread rateNone
Diet & foraging1
Parasiteindependent
Habitat & environment24
Active growth periodSpring, Summer, Fall
Adapted to coarse textured soilsYes
Adapted to fine textured soilsNo
Adapted to medium textured soilsYes
Aquaticterrestrial
BloatNone
Climatesubtropical
Climberself-supporting
Epiphyteterrestrial
Foliage colorDark Green
Foliage porosity summerDense
Foliage porosity winterDense
Foliage textureCoarse
Fruit colourred
Growth formtree
Growth form USDASingle Stem
Hedge toleranceLow
Known allelopathNo
Leaf retentionYes
Low growing grassNo
Root depth min48 in
Shape and orientationRounded
Small grainNo
Woodinesswoody
Physiology & chemistry19
Anaerobic toleranceNone
C:N ratioHigh
Caco3 toleranceMedium
Cold stratification requiredNo
Drought toleranceHigh
Fertility requirementLow
Fire resistantNo
Fire toleranceLow
Frost free days min290 days
Moisture useLow
Nitrogen fixation levelNone
Photosynthetic pathwayC3
Precipitation max24 in
Precipitation min11 in
Salinity toleranceLow
Shade toleranceHigh
Soil pH max8.4 pH
Soil pH min6.4 pH
Temperature min-4 °F
Uses & economy16
Berry nut seed productNo
Christmas tree productNo
Commercial availabilityContracting Only
Fodder productNo
Fuelwood productMedium
Lumber productNo
Naval store productNo
Nursery stock productYes
Palatable browse animalLow
Palatable graze animalLow
Palatable humanNo
Post productNo
Pulpwood productNo
Seeds per pound2 000 per lb
ToxicityNone
Veneer productNo
Other traits7
Fall conspicuousYes
Fruit seed abundanceMedium
Fruit seed conspicuousYes
Fruit seed persistenceYes
Height at 20yr6.1 m
Planting density max700 per acre
Planting density min300 per acre
05DNA & barcoding1 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Arbutus arizonica has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens1
Marker genes1
eDNA detections1
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★ITS
fungal barcode
07Deep time~1.53 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin1.53 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type1 992 records
Wild obs. + sensor1 216
Museum / vouchered776
Origin
Native6
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO3 080 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy89% within 1 km
≤100 m 713≤1 km 159≤10 km 68>10 km 39
979 georeferenced · 237 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor1 216
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy70% within 1 km
≤100 m 182≤1 km 47≤10 km 77>10 km 19
325 georeferenced · 451 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence776
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions42 of 59 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Guasave, MX
262
ASUlocation not on record
72
Durango, MX
56
Mexico City, MX
40
Dekalb, US
36
Saint Louis, US
33
MEXUlocation not on record
27
Chapingo, MX
23
Phoenix, US
21
Austin, US
19
Madison, US
18
Chicago, US
13
Flagstaff, US
13
Riverside, US
12
Bronx, US
11
Hermosillo, MX
10
Philadelphia, US
9
Cambridge, US
7
Claremont, US
7
Albuquerque, US
7
EL PASO, US
6
San Luis Obispo, US
6
San Diego, US
5
Mexico City, MX
5
Santa Barbara, US
4
CASlocation not on record
3
CICYTEXlocation not on record
3
Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahualocation not on record
3
Anchorage, US
3
Zacatecas, MX
3
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
3
Boise, US
2
Kew, GB
2
Lord Fairfax Community Collegelocation not on record
2
Fort Worth, US
2
Tampa, US
2
Angwin, US
2
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
2
The University of Arizonalocation not on record
2
Denver, US
1
Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Méxicolocation not on record
1
Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record
1
Toronto, CA
1
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
1
Ann Arbor, US
1
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
1
Wuzhou, CN
1
Pullman, US
1
San Angelo, US
1
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
1
Chadron, US
1
Provo, US
1
Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record
1
Pittsburg, US
1
Tuscaloosa, US
1
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
1
Acadia Universitylocation not on record
1
Autlán de Navarro, MX
1
Mérida, MX
1
59 institutions · 776 of 776 vouchered records shown
09Environmental DNA1 detections
Where the DNA of Arbutus arizonica was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found1
Studies independent surveys1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 1 detections have coordinates
Open the map0 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation4 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 992 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI1 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics1 specimens↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗