Introductory
SPECIES: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel 



ABBREVIATION : 
GARFRE

SYNONYMS : 
   Garrya rigida Eastw.


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   GAFR


COMMON NAMES : 
   Fremont silktassel
   bear brush
   California fever bush
   flannel bush
   quinine bush
   silktassel bush


TAXONOMY : 

The currently accepted scientific name of Fremont silktassel is Garrya
fremontii Torr.  Recognized varieties are as follows [11,15]:
     
     G. fremontii var. fremontii
     G. fremontii var. laxa Eastw. 


LIFE FORM : 
Shrub

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
Washington has put Fremont silktassel on the state's monitor list under
Group 3:  more abundant and/or less threatened than previously assumed
[24].


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Janet L. Howard, April 1992


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Howard, Janet L. 1992. Garrya fremontii. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Fremont silktassel occurs in Washington, Oregon, and California
[11,15,22].  It is distributed along the Columbia River in Washington
and Oregon, and in the Klamath Mountains and Coast Ranges from Josephine
and Jackson counties, Oregon south to Monterey County, California.  In
the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, it occurs from from Lane County,
Oregon south to Madera County, California [11,16].  A disjunct
population occurs in the Transverse and Peninsular ranges in Riverside,
Orange, and San Diego counties, California [16].  G. fremontii var. laxa
occurs in Trinity County, California [11].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES22  Western white pine
   FRES27  Redwood
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub


STATES : 
     CA  OR  WA


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     CRLA  WHIS  YOSE


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   1  Northern Pacific Border
   2  Cascade Mountains
   3  Southern Pacific Border
   4  Sierra Mountains
   5  Columbian Plateau


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K006  Redwood forest
   K007  Red fir forest
   K010  Ponderosa shrub forest
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K026  Oregon oakwoods
   K028  Mosaic of K002 and K026
   K029  California mixed evergreen forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K033  Chaparral
   K034  Montane chaparral


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir - western hemlock
   231  Port-Orford-cedar
   232  Redwood
   233  Oregon white oak
   234  Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   244  Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   246  California black oak
   247  Jeffrey pine
   248  Knobcone pine
   249  Canyon live oak
   250  Blue oak - Digger pine
   255  California coast live oak


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Fremont silktassel usually occurs as scattered individuals throughout
the chaparral zone, although it is dominant in some localities [25].
Fremont silktassel is listed as a dominant or codominant species in
vegetation types (vts) in the following published classifications
[17,24]:

Area               Classification            Authority          
Ca:Marble Mts.     montane chaparral vts     Muth 1980
Ca:Santa Ana Mts.  chamise chaparral         Vogl 1976

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Fremont silktassel is browsed by livestock and mule deer in winter and
spring [2,3].  It is one of the principal winter browse species on some
Oregon ranges [26].  The fruit is eaten by various chaparral animals
including songbirds, mountain quail, gray fox, and rodents [18,22].


PALATABILITY : 
Fremont silktassel fruit is palatable to birds and various mammals.
Older leaves and twigs contain a bitter alkaloid that makes them
unpalatable to some browsers.  Sprouts, however, are highly palatable to
mule deer and all classes of livestock.  The relish and degree of use
shown by livestock and wildlife species for Fremont silktassel leaves
and twigs in California is rated as follows [22]:

                         mule deer - good
                         cattle - poor
                         horses - poor
                         goats - good
                         sheep - fair to good


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The protein content of Fremont silktassel varies from 12.0 percent in
May and June to 5.1 percent in August [2].


COVER VALUE : 
Fremont silktassel provides good cover for black bear, mule deer, and
various birds and small mammals [18].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Fremont silktassel can be used for wildlife habitat and watershed
rehabilitation.  It is easily cultivated from stem cuttings or seed, and
transplants well.  Nursery-grown seedlings transplanted in the Klamath
River Canyon, California showed an 84 percent survival rate after 17
years [8].  Seed can be obtained by harvesting native plants.
Cultivation methods have been detailed [21].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Fremont silktassel's shiny, yellow-green leaves, showy yellow panicles,
and purple berries make it an attractive landscaping oramental [21,22].
    
Garryine, an alkaloid extracted from Fremont silktassel, was used by
early settlers as a tonic [22].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Timber:  Because Fremont silktassel occurs as widely scattered
individuals in most areas, it is usually not a serious competitor of
timber species.  Fremont silktassel is difficult to control where it
grows in dominant stands, however.  It will sprout following hand
release or contolled burning.  Some chemical treatments may not be
effective, since Garrya species show resistance to many foliar sprays.
Phenoxy compounds, rated as intermediate in effectiveness for this
genus, may be the best choice for timberland spraying.  Application
methods have been detailed.  Fremont silktassel may sprout following
die-back from chemical spraying [4].

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Fremont silktassel is a dioecious, erect, many-branched, native
evergreen shrub from 5 to 15 feet (1.5-4.5 m) in height.  The leaves and
fruits are glabrous to thickly pubescent.  The small flowers are borne
on racemes.  Garrya fremontii var. fremontii is distinguished by thickly
pubescent leaves and fruits and thick, crowded racemes.  G.  fremontii
var. laxa has glabrous to finely pubescent leaves and fruits, and
thinner, less compact racemes.  The fruit is a berry with from one to
four thin-coated seeds [11,14,15,22].  Details concerning the rooting
habits of this species or this genus are lacking.


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Sexual:  Fremont silktassel reproduces by seed [8,15,21,22].  Plants
produce seed at eight years of age.  Seed falls under the parent plant
or is dispersed by animals [3].  Germination requires overwinter
stratification.  Fresh seed viability is 85 to 99 percent, but viability
decreases with age.  Mirov [14] reported a germination success
rate of 24 percent for 3-year-old seeds under laboratory conditions.
Fremont silktassel seedlings are poor competitors, and their survival
rate is low.  First-year nursery seedlings have shown 69 percent
mortality [8].

Vegetative:  Fremont silktassel sprouts from the root crown or stump
[3,8,22]. 


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Soil and topography:  Fremont silktassel grows in well-drained, slightly
acidic, typic Xerochrept soil with 50 to 60 percent coarse fragment
[12].  Soil nutrient levels are low, and moisture is low from mid-spring
to mid-fall [3,18,19].  The species will tolerate serpentine soil
[7,24].  Typical topography includes rocky slopes, rolling hills, or
steep canyons [19].

Climate:  Fremont silktassel grows in a Mediterranean climate with cool,
wet winters and hot, dry summers [18].

Elevation:  Fremont silktassel occurs from 2,500 to 7,000 feet
(762-2,134 m) [22].

Associated species:  The associated species of Fremont silktassel
include Colter pine (Pinus coulteri), white fir (Abies concolor), deer
oak (Quercus sadleriana), scrub oak (Q. dumosa), manzanita
(Arctostaphylos spp.), buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus), redbud (Cercis
occidentalis), birchleaf mountain-mahogany (Cerocarpus betuloides),
toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), poison-oak (Toxicodendron
diversilobium), chamise (Adenostoma fasiculatum), soft chess (Bromus
mollis), foxtail fescue (Festuca magalura), cutleaf filaree (Erodium
cicutarium), and various clovers (Trifolium spp.) [5,17,18,19,23].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Fremont silktassel is found in all stages of succession.  Pioneer
seedlings grew in a clear-cut area of a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga
menziesii) forest near Blue River, Oregon [28].  The plant is a
sprouting survivor in initial and early seral communities [3,8].  It is
shade tolerant [22] and persists until late seral stages in foothill
woodland and forest communities, where it may be replaced by oaks,
ponderosa or Jeffrey pine (Pinus ponderosa; P.  jeffreyi), western white
pine (P. monticola), redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), or Douglas-fir.
Fremont silktassel is most common, however, in chaparral communities.
These communities are maintained through lack of soil build-up or
frequent fire, which prevents permanent invasion of trees.  In chaparral,
Fremont silktassel is classified as a climax or pyric-climax species
[17].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
The following seasonal development has been reported for plants in
Washington and California [15,21]:

           growth starts - January to May
           flowering - January to May
           seed ripe - August to December
           dissemination begins - September to December
           dissemination over - November to January  

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Fremont silktassel sprouts from the root crown following fire [3,8,22].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   survivor species; on-site surviving root crown 
   off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Severe fire top-kills Fremont silktassel.  Severe fire also kills the
thin-coated seed unless it is buried 1 inch (0.4 cm) or more below the
soil surface [8,21].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Fremont silktassel recovers from fire rapidly.  Everett [8] reported a
92 percent survival rate for plants that were scorched or burned to
ground level following a severe fire in Humbolt County, California.
Top-killed plants sprout vigorously in the first postfire growing
season.  Partially burned plants grow new shoots from the unburned
portions of their branches.  New shoots produce flowers and fruits at
the second postfire growing season.  By postfire year 3, plants have
regained or exceeded their original heights [3,8,22].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Prescribed burning will not significantly affect Fremont silktassel
populations.  Fire does not stimulate germination of this species, but
fire-damaged plants usually regain or exceed their preburn biomass
within a few years.

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel 



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Related categories for Species: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel