''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 Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

usually from to in width, and up to tall. Its alternate

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are small, long and broad, lobed, juicy green when new. The young branches have longitudinal ridges. Cascading clusters of white

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

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 (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. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

, and throughout

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in diverse habitats including

California mixed evergreen forest : California mixed evergreen forest is a plant community found in the mountain ranges of California and southwestern Oregon. The Mixed evergreen forest plant community is native to the Northern and Southern California Coast Ranges and Sierra Ne ...

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 coast ...

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

, Coast redwood forest,

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

forest,

Yellow pine forest Ponderosa pine forest is a plant association and plant community dominated by ponderosa pine and found in western North America. It is found from the British Columbia to Durango, Mexico. In the south and east, ponderosa pine forest is the climax ...

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 rarel ...

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 The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

, Northern and Southern

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...

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 R ...

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...

, 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 Ba ...

, and the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...

. It is found in both openings and the common

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

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, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

, and it is often the first green shoot to spring up in an area recovering from a burn. It is commonly found in

communities, a

fire ecology Fire ecology is a scientific discipline concerned with the effects of fire on natural ecosystems. Many ecosystems, particularly prairie, savanna, chaparral and coniferous forests, have evolved with fire as an essential contributor to habitat vit ...

ecosystem which evolved with burning periodically. It also may grow in areas cleared by

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksCalifornia black oak ''Quercus kelloggii'', the California black oak or Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section (genus ''Quercus'', section ''Lobatae'', series ''Agrifoliae'') native to western North America. Description ''Quercus kelloggii'' grows from one ...

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 co ...

'' (Western poison-oak), ''

Heteromeles arbutifolia ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' (, more commonly by Californian botanists), commonly known as toyon, is a perennial shrub native to Coastal California. It is the sole species in the genus ''Heteromeles''. Description Toyon typically grows from , r ...

'' (toyon), and ''

Dryopteris arguta ''Dryopteris arguta'', with the common name coastal woodfern, is a species of Dryopteris, wood fern. It is native to the west coast and western interior mountain ranges of North America, from British Columbia, throughout California, and into Ariz ...

'' (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 Lorquin's admiral (''Limenitis lorquini'') is a butterfly in the Nymphalinae subfamily. The butterfly is named after Pierre Joseph Michel Lorquin, a French naturalist who came to California from France during the Gold Rush, and made important dis ...

, pale tiger swallowtail, and

spring azure ''Celastrina ladon'', the spring azure or echo blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from Alaska and Canada south of the tundra, through most of the United States except the Texas coast, southern plain and p ...

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) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. ''Equisetum'' is a "living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass Equisetidae, which ...

. Comox natives use oceanspray when flowering as an indicator of the best time to dig for butter clams.

Medicinal

The

Lummi Lummi most commonly refers to: Lummi people *Lummi people, a Coast Salish people located in western Washington state **Lummi Nation The Lummi Nation ( ; Lummi dialect, Lummi: ' or '';'' officially known as the Lummi Tribe of the Lummi ...

used the flowers as an

antidiarrheal Antidiarrheals are a class of medication used primarily to manage and reduce the frequency of diarrhea. This class of medication predominantly works by slowing digestion, reducing fluid loss, or improving absorption. There are four main classes: op ...

and the leaves as a

poultice A poultice or cataplasm, also called a fomentation, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is applied to the skin to reduce inflammation, soothe pain, promote healing, or otherwise treat wounds or ailments. Soft materials like cer ...

. Several

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

, 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''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 Taxa named by Karl Maximovich