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Oemleria

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Oemleria
Temporal range: Eocene - recent[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Amygdaloideae
Tribe: Exochordeae
Genus: Oemleria
Rchb.
Species:
O. cerasiformis
Binomial name
Oemleria cerasiformis
Synonyms[3][4][5]
  • Nuttallia cerasiformis Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn.
  • Osmaronia cerasiformis (Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn.) Greene

Oemleria cerasiformis, a shrub commonly known as osoberry,[6] Squaw plum,[7] or Indian plum,[8] is the sole extant species in genus Oemleria.

Native to the Pacific coast and ranges of North America, from British Columbia, Canada to Santa Barbara County, California, U.S.A.,[8] it is among the first plants to leaf out and flowers early in the spring. It reaches a height of 1.5–5 m and has lance-shaped leaves 5–12 cm long.

The fruits of osoberry are edible and resemble small plums which are dark blue when ripe.[9] Indigenous peoples of the Americas include osoberry in their diets, make tea of the bark, and chew its twigs to use as a mild anesthetic and aphrodisiac.[10]

One other fossil species is known from the genus: Oemleria janhartfordae from the Eocene Klondike Mountain Formation.[11]

Description

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Osoberry is a deciduous shrub that can reach an age of 50 years and grow to be 7 meters tall. The branches are spread out and occur in a variety of sizes.[12] The bark is a smooth dark gray to reddish brown color, with twigs with similar coloring of green to reddish brown. The light green leaves of osoberry are simple, alternating, and oblong, with a length of 2-5 inches.[13] These leaves are known to smell similar to cucumbers.[14]

Osoberry grows racemes of small white flowers that have 5 separate pistils, which can develop into a drupe.[15] The bright orange lenticels grow up to a ½ inch in length.[13] The racemes typically grow five to nine flowers, growing from the base of young shoots, and from short shoots of mature twigs. The flowers begin to grow as leaves are emerging and are fully bloomed before leaves have completely emerged.[12] The amount of fruit yield varies depending on the amount of light in the spring.[15] The plum fruit of osoberry begin as reddish pink and deepen to a deep blue color as they ripen. The fruit is known to be bitter, but sweetens as it ripens, tasting similar to cherries or watermelon.[14] The mass of a mature fruit is around 200 grams. These plums are appealing to birds and are dispersed by avians.[12]

Osoberry is dioecious, with almost all plants being male or female.[15] The shrubs have groups of up to twenty closely spaced stems of the same sex. The plants consist of almost completely strictly one gender, and the individuals are usually male.[12] The reproductive biomass that males are mostly made up of are flowers and petals.[15] On the other hand, the reproductive biomass of female individuals is largely made up of the fruit set.[16] Only female osoberry produce fruit.[15]

Habitat

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Osoberry are found in the Pacific Northwest, ranging from Northern California to Southwestern British Columbia. The shrubs grow in places such as second-growth forests, stream terraces,[15] forest,[12] or roadside margins.[14] Rosaceous flower fossils found in Northeastern Washington state show that Oemleria was present in the early Eocene of western North America.[11]

Uses

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The wood is exceptionally strong and fine grained. With stems generally less than two inches [5 cm] in diameter, this small size limits the size of products that can be made from it. The fairly common straight shoots make fine primitive arrows and the rare, large enough and straight stem can be fashioned into an excellent self bow. It is also suitable for small wooden tools such as spoons, combs, knitting needles, etc. The fine grain and lack of significant figure also make the wood well suited for fine detail carving.

The Pacific coast tribes utilized its fruit, twigs, and bark, as food sources and for teas and medicine.[17] It is one of the first tree-borne fruits to ripen in summer and as such was prized by indigenous peoples and wildlife alike. Fruiting is highly variable, with sunny locations producing more, as well as larger and sweeter fruits. The fruits can be eaten raw, or cooked when bitter; they tend to be somewhat astringent.[17] Several Indigenous tribes from Western Washington, such as the Snohomish, Chehalis, and Squaxin tribes, ate the berries fresh. The Cowlitz tribe also ate the berries fresh, along with drying them for winter uses.[7]



The flowers as seen in April.

Images

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References

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  1. ^ "Rosales". www.mobot.org. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  2. ^ IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group; Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) (2020). "Oemleria cerasiformis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T156821753A156821755. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T156821753A156821755.en. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  3. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
  4. ^ "The International Plant Names Index entry for Nuttallia Torr. & A.Gray ex Hook. & Arn".
  5. ^ "The International Plant Names Index entry for Osmaronia Greene".
  6. ^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  7. ^ a b Gunther, Erna (1973). Ethnobotany of Western Washington (Revised ed.). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-295-95258-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  8. ^ a b "USDA PLANTS Profile: Oemleria cerasiformis".
  9. ^ Turner, Nancy J. (1995). Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. UBC Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780774805339.
  10. ^ Pojar, Jim; Andy MacKinnon (2004). Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Lone Pine Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-55105-530-5.
  11. ^ a b Benedict, John C.; DeVore, Melanie L.; Pigg, Kathleen B. (May 2011). "Prunus and Oemleria (Rosaceae) Flowers from the Late Early Eocene Republic Flora of Northeastern Washington State, U.S.A." International Journal of Plant Sciences. 172 (7): 948–958. doi:10.1086/660880. ISSN 1058-5893.
  12. ^ a b c d e Mitchell, Matthew G. E.; Antos, Joseph A.; Allen, Geraldine A. (March 2004). "Modules of reproduction in females of the dioecious shrub Oemleria cerasiformis". Canadian Journal of Botany. 82 (3). Ottawa: 393–400 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ a b "Oemleria cerasiformis Fact Sheet". Virginia Tech. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
  14. ^ a b c Deur, Douglas (2014). Pacific Northwest Foraging (1st ed.). Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 239–241. ISBN 978-1-60469-615-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  15. ^ a b c d e f Allen, Geraldine A.; Antos, Joseph A. (1998). "Relative Reproductive Effort in Males and Females of the Dioecious Shrub Oemleria cerasiformis". Oecologia. 76 (1). Springer Nature: 111–118 – via JSTOR.
  16. ^ Antos, Joseph A.; Allen, Geraldine A. (March 1994). "Biomass Allocation among Reproductive Structures in the Dioecious Shrub Oemleria Cerasiformis -- A Functional Interpretation". Journal of Ecology. 82 (1): 21–29. doi:10.2307/2261382 – via JSTOR.
  17. ^ a b Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC 965922681.
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