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  

Related categories for Species: Garrya fremontii | Fremont Silktassel