VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Mahonia repens | Oregon-Grape 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Oregon-grape fruits are eaten by a number of bird and mammal species,
including black bears [72].  Season of use determines the amount of
foliage browsed by mule deer, white-tailed deer, and elk.  Moose and
bighorn sheep make little use of the plants regardless of the season
[53,63,68], but it provides a winter food source for mule and
white-tailed deer in the Black Hills of South Dakota [23,31].  Mule deer
use is high in the fall and winter in Montana and Nevada [25,35], and
low in the summer in Utah [57].  In Idaho it provides an important
spring browse for white-tailed deer and elk [34,40].

Oregon-grape may be poisonous to livestock; they make virtually no use
of the plants [16,72].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Oregon-grape browse has only fair food value.  Protein contents range
from 4.7 to 5.5 percent.  It provides a high source of carotene in July
[23].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Oregon-grape is currently used for landscaping and xeriscaping because
it provides evergreen ground cover that is both heat and drought
tolerant [62,73,74].  Though sometimes browsed by deer, it generally
recovers during the growing season [33].  Game rangelands, old mines,
roadsides, and recreation areas are suggested sites for planting this
species.  Oregon-grape should comprise 10 to 25 percent of a seed
mixture for these uses.  Successful stand establishment requires
reduction of competing vegetation before and during establishment [73].

Plants are propagated by seeds, suckers, cuttings, and layering [72].
Seeding or transplanting in rows, strips, or blocks may improve stand
establishment and survival.  A seeding rate of 10 to 20 pure live seeds
per square foot is recommended for full stands.  Seeds can be sown in
the fall without treatment, but they require stratification prior to
planting in the spring [54,73].  Transplanting rootstocks is possible
but difficult in less humid, interior climates [73].



OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Dye:  Navajo Indians produced a yellow dye from the roots and a lavender
dye from the fruit [46].

Medicinal:  Great Basin tribes used tea obtained by boiling the roots
for thickening blood and curing dysentery.  The tea was considered
efficacious for curing coughs, kidney problems, and venereal diseases
[46].

Food:  Preserves, drinks, and pies are made from the berries [46].



MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Oregon-grape shows little change after silvicultural treatments such as
clearcutting and mechanical scarification [7].

Oregon-grape has low short-term resistance to trampling by people but
recovers steadily if trampling is eliminated for long periods.  Overall,
it is considered moderately resistant to trampling since it does recover
[15].

Oregon-grape is an alternate host for black stem rust, a serious
pathogen of cereal crops, and should not be planted where cereal crops
are grown [29,72].

Related categories for Species: Mahonia repens | Oregon-Grape