VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Fremontodendron californicum | Flannelbush 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Flannelbush wood is heavy and varies from hard to soft [10,30].  The
wood is fine-grained, but it is not used commercially due to the
small-sized bole [10].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Flannelbush provides yearlong browse for livestock and large game animals
[4,9,10,23,37].  Young leaves and twigs are consumed more often than
older parts [37].


PALATABILITY : 
Palatability of flannelbush was rated as excellent for deer, good to
fair for sheep and goats, fair to poor for cattle, and poor or useless
for horses [34,37].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Flannelbush is recommended for erosion control at elevations ranging
from 500 to 6,000 feet (152-1,829 m) [14,20,35].  Flannelbush has been
planted on banks and levees of flood control channels in California [14].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Tea made from flannelbush bark relieves throat irritations [27].  The
mucilaginous inner bark is used in poultices for wounds [9,10].

Flannelbush is used in landscaping [20,22,23,34].
  


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Following the removal of mixed chaparral top growth in California
rangeland by bulldozing and burning, forage production was evaluated in
a series of exclosure treatments over 6 years.  The treatments were
various combinations of 1 to 3 years of protection with 2 to 4 years of
browsing.  Flannelbush grew rapidly in all treatments, even exceeding
browse line in the 1-year treatments.  It grew out of browsing reach
with or without continuous use by deer and/or cattle.  Intensive
browsing pressure is necessary to maintain flannelbush as low, readily
available forage [13].

The root system of flannelbush is sensitive to disturbance which makes
it unsuitable for bareroot transplanting.  Methods of propagation are
discussed in detail in the literature [20,22].  Flannelbush seed
harvest, storage, germination, and planting methods are also discussed
in detail [8,24,34].

Related categories for Species: Fremontodendron californicum | Flannelbush