Arbutus species

Arbutus are amongst the most ornamental small trees available to Australian horticulture. All Arbutus require reasonably well-drained soils, but unlike many members of the Ericaceae, Arbutus do not require strongly acidic soils.

A. canariensis and A. glandulosa both produce handsome, knobbly fruit that turns rich red. The fruits may present a weed problem, so it may be more appropriate to use the sterile Arbutus X andrachnoides in an ecologically-sensitive area.

Arbutus canariensis:

Canary Islands Madrone. This tree has bold foliage to 15cm long, and large, somewhat-upright panicles of white bell-like flowers throughout the year. The bark of this tree is also very showy, it is dark orange in most seasons, but with extreme heat and sun, it can become a mid-purple. Like gum trees, the trunk is smooth, and the bark is shed annually. At our Victoria Harbour site, we have found that is quite wind and heat tolerant, making it an ideal evergreen tree to use throughout Melbourne. With weekly-to-fortnightly summer irrigation, A. canariensis will grow up to 250mm per year. Beautiful specimens of this tree can be found in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens.

Arbutus glandulosa:

White Madrone. This small tree comes from the mountains of central Mexico, where it grows on extremely well-drained, volcanic soils. This plant should be well-mulched every spring, and irrigated every week to 10 days in summer and early autumn. It has elegant cascading panicles of pale-pink-to-white, bell-shaped flowers, followed by clusters of orange-to-red ‘strawberry’ fruits in autumn. Most growth is initiated after the fruits form, so in younger trees, you may remove fruits to encourage greater extension growth. The bark is fantastic, and artistic pruning would be useful. Expect this tree to grow to 9m with time, but occasional pruning should keep it to about 6m. Extremely rare and choice; excellent specimens are in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

Typical mature height:

6-9m

Useful in:

parks & display plantings

Sites for best growth:

well-drained, some irrigation