Fremontodendron californicum (Torr.) Coult.

California flannelbush
California fremontia
California slippery-elm
mountain leatherwood

Information on state- and province-level protection status of plants in the
United States and Canada is available at NatureServe.

More info for the terms: capsule, fruit, shrub, tree

California flannelbush is a native, evergreen, erect to decumbent shrub or tree.
It reaches 3.3 to 13.1 feet (1-4 m) tall as a shrub. As a tree, it may
grow to 30 feet (9 m) tall and 13.8 inches (35 cm) in diameter
[10,23,26,30, 38,40]. It has a broad, open crown and a short trunk with
deeply fissured bark. The thick leaves are simple with 3 to 5 lobes and
are 1 to 1.4 inches (2.5-3.5 cm) long [10,40]. Leaves usually remain
for 2 years; however, during wetter than normal springs, California flannelbush
produces larger leaves that are shed in late summer [3]. The flowers
are 1 to 1.5 inches (0.4 to 1.8 cm) long [26,37]. Flowers are solitary
in twig axils and numerous throughout the plant [26,30]. The fruit is a
very hairy capsule 0.63 to 1.5 inches (1.6-3.9 cm) long and contains
numerous seeds [26,34,37].

More info for the term: forest

California flannelbush is widespread in California. It extends eastward into
central Arizona and southward into northern Baja California, Mexico
[18,23,33,37,38].



Distribution of California flannelbush. 1976 USDA, Forest Service map provided by Thompson et al. [49].

More info for the terms: cover, frequency, seed, shrub, succession

California flannelbush is well adapted to recurring fires with its abundant seed
production, prolific sprouting, and rapid growth. It reaches maturity
relatively quickly; seeds can spread via animal or wind into fire-opened
areas.

Chaparral is one of the most fire-susceptible vegetations in the world;
fire is the major cause of secondary succession in chaparral [15].
California flannelbush cover, similar to that of other chaparral species, is
influenced by the frequency of burning. Chaparral communities evolved
under variable fire recurrence regimes [46]. Recurrence intervals may
be as short as 0 to 40 years, depending on the size and age of previous
fires, or as long as over 100 years [5,45]. California flannelbush is also a
dominant shrub in desert chaparral communities which burn less
frequently and intensely than other chaparral types [15,21].
California flannelbush invades singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) stands
following fire [5,21,31].

More info for the terms: cover, prescribed fire

In California, prescribed fire is used to improve grazing conditions in
woodland-grass chaparral cover types where California flannelbush occurs [4]. Most
California flannelbush utilization by browsing animals takes place during the first
2 years following fire when sprouting is greatest [37].

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More info for the terms: chamaephyte, phanerophyte

Phanerophyte
Chamaephyte

More info for the term: serpentine soils

California flannelbush grows in mediterranean climates [3]. Over its range,
California flannelbush is found on all aspects in foothills and low elevation
mountains [51,42]. In California and northern Mexico, California flannelbush often
occurs on granitic slopes from 3,000 to 6,000 feet (900-1,800 m)
[9,15,40,32].

Kruckeberg [28] classified California flannelbush as an indicator species for
serpentine soils in California; however, it also occurs on soils derived
from other parent materials [43]. California flannelbush is found on a variety of
soil textures that range from gravelly loams to clays. It may occur on
soils that are shallow or deep and rich [1,43].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

237 Interior ponderosa pine
239 Pinyon - juniper
240 Arizona cypress
241 Western live oak
245 Pacific ponderosa pine

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: woodland

K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K030 California oakwoods
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands
K033 Chaparral

Fire top-kills California flannelbush; surviving lignotubers sprout following fire
[7,9,34,44].

California flannelbush provides yearlong browse for livestock and large game animals
[4,9,10,23,37]. Young leaves and twigs are consumed more often than
older parts [37].

More info for the terms: cover, natural, sclerophyllous, shrub

California flannelbush is a member of dry temperate sclerophyllous floras and is a
characteristic species of chaparral [3,19]. It is a dominant shrub of
desert chaparral communities which also finger into desert scrub or
pinyon-juniper (Pinus spp.-Juniperus spp.) communities [6,17,18].
Additionally, it is found in chamise (Adenostoma fasciculata) chaparral
and northern mixed chaparral, and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)
communities of California [9,19,42]. California flannelbush is a dominant or
indicator species in the following publications:

(1) Vegetation types of the San Gabriel Mountains [16]
(2) Preliminary descriptions of the terrestrial natural communities
of California [19]
(3) Vegetation of the San Bernardino Mountains [31].

California flannelbush is associated with numerous species listed in descriptions
of ecosystems, Kuchler plant associations, or SAF cover types. Two
species that are associated with California flannelbush but not mentioned in those
descriptions are desert almond (Prunus fasciculata) and bush poppy
(Dendromecon rigida) [16].

More info for the terms: shrub, tree

Tree, Shrub

More info for the terms: seed, series

Following the removal of mixed chaparral top growth in California
rangeland by bulldozing and burning, forage production was evaluated in
a series of exclosure treatments over 6 years. The treatments were
various combinations of 1 to 3 years of protection with 2 to 4 years of
browsing. California flannelbush grew rapidly in all treatments, even exceeding
browse line in the 1-year treatments. It grew out of browsing reach
with or without continuous use by deer and/or cattle. Intensive
browsing pressure is necessary to maintain California flannelbush as low, readily
available forage [13].

The root system of California flannelbush is sensitive to disturbance which makes
it unsuitable for bareroot transplanting. Methods of propagation are
discussed in detail in the literature [20,22]. California flannelbush seed
harvest, storage, germination, and planting methods are also discussed
in detail [8,24,34].

AZ CA MEXICO

Tea made from California flannelbush bark relieves throat irritations [27]. The
mucilaginous inner bark is used in poultices for wounds [9,10].

California flannelbush is used in landscaping [20,22,23,34].

Palatability of California flannelbush was rated as excellent for deer, good to
fair for sheep and goats, fair to poor for cattle, and poor or useless
for horses [34,37].

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California flannelbush blooms between April and July throughout its range
[9,10,30,34]. Fruits mature during August or September [34]. Seeds
disperse during summer and fall [24,34].

More info for the terms: cover, prescribed fire, tree, wildfire

All aboveground biomass of California flannelbush was killed during a prescribed
fire in November 1980 in chaparral of southern California. Two months
later, California flannelbush had sprouted in a study site at 5,085 feet (1,550 m)
elevation. By June 1981, California flannelbush sprouts covered approximately
744.9 square feet per acre (171 sq m/ha) and seedling cover was 39.2
square feet per acre (9 sq m/ha) [25].

California flannelbush vigorously sprouted and rapidly grew during the first 6
years following mechanical clearing (1954) and prescribed fire (1955) in
mixed chaparral on the San Joaquin deer winter range in California.
Twenty-two years following a wildfire (1939) in a different area on the
winter range, California flannelbush plants were numerous. Surviving lignotubers
had sprouted, and plants had attained tree status [13].

More info for the terms: root crown, root sucker, secondary colonizer, shrub

Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/soboliferous species root sucker
Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the terms: capsule, elaiosome, lignotuber, seed

California flannelbush reproduces sexually and asexually. California flannelbush blooms the
second year after germination [34]. It is usually an abundant seed
producer [10]. Germination levels during laboratory trials were very
low (3 to 10 percent) [24].

Seeds have an elaiosome [24]. Although seeds are thrown from the
capsule by wind or other disturbances, ants are probably the main
dispersal agents [34,43].

California flannelbush sprouts vigorously from the lignotuber following removal of
top growth [17,26,43].

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
7 Lower Basin and Range
12 Colorado Plateau

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More info for the terms: climax, forest

Facultative Seral Species

California flannelbush is a minor component of climax chaparral. It is primarily
found in seral communites of woodland-grass chaparral [4,5].
Occasionally, it occurs in seral forest chaparral. California flannelbush grows in
open to very dense chaparral stands; light does not appear to be a
limiting factor in establishment.

Fremontia californica Torr. [33]

The scientific name of California flannelbush is Fremontodendron
californicum (Torr.) Cov. It is a member of the cacao family
(Sterculiaceae) [23,26]. Accepted infrataxa are [48]:

Fremontodendron californicum subsp. californicum, California flannelbush
Fremontodendron californicum subsp. decumbens (R.Lloyd) Munz, prostrate flannelbush

Fremontodendron californicum subsp. decumbens is Endangered [47].

California flannelbush is recommended for erosion control at elevations ranging
from 500 to 6,000 feet (152-1,829 m) [14,20,35]. California flannelbush has been
planted on banks and levees of flood control channels in California [14].

California flannelbush wood is heavy and varies from hard to soft [10,30]. The
wood is fine-grained, but it is not used commercially due to the
small-sized bole [10].