I say 'madrona' you say 'madrone'

This is a limb of a madrona tree, a native Northwest tree that is beloved by many. I don't see them much except around the coast or Puget Sound, but there are a few in our neighborhood. I think they prefer to grow in the wild and don't take well to cultivation, but these couple of trees are thriving.

I found this tidbit interesting, from the Oregon Extension Service: One theory to explain why madrones are so difficult to transplant is that they rely heavily on a complex relationship with fungal filaments in the soil. These fungal filaments grow together with plant roots to form extensive networks called myccorhizae. These bring additional water and nutrients to the plant. Myccorhizae can increase the working surface area of the roots by as much as a thousand-fold.

When I was a kid, we somehow got the idea that you could peel off some bark, roll it up and smoke it. I'm not sure what the effect was supposed to be, but I will tell you it was awful! Harsh and bitter; we probably hurled afterward. We were trying to be cool. We weren't.

Now I just appreciate the beauty of this tree - the bark peels off to reveal a smooth, hard wood underneath. I love the reddish color of the bark and the thick, leathery leaves.