Madrone

Native Trees

Northern California / Bay Area

279 cities

Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) is a native evergreen broadleaf tree with smooth, peeling bark that shifts from olive green to deep cinnamon red as it matures. It holds its leaves year-round, produces clusters of small white flowers in spring, and sets red-orange berries in fall that birds tear through quickly. In the Bay Area you'll find it on dry, rocky ridges and hillsides, often growing alongside coast live oak and Douglas fir.

Lifespan

200 to 400 years in undisturbed native conditions. Landscape specimens often fall well short of that due to irrigation, soil compaction, and construction damage near the roots.

Mature Size

Typically 20 to 50 feet tall with a 20 to 30 foot spread. Old-growth trees in ideal native habitat can push past 80 feet, but that is not what you will see in a residential setting.

Care & Maintenance

Here is what most people get wrong: madrone hates summer water. If yours is inside a lawn irrigation zone or getting drip during the dry season, you are actively shortening its life. It wants fast-draining, acidic to neutral soil, full sun, and zero supplemental irrigation once it is established. Do not fertilize it.

Common Issues & Threats

Root rot from summer irrigation: Phytophthora and other water molds thrive when soil stays wet in summer. This is the single most common way madrones die in landscaped yards, and by the time you notice decline, the roots are already gone.
Madrone leaf blight caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea: Look for brown or black lesions on leaves and tip dieback on young shoots. It spreads aggressively in wet conditions and there is no cure, but keeping the canopy dry and avoiding wet-weather pruning limits how far it progresses.
Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum): Madrone is a confirmed host for this pathogen, which has killed millions of oaks and tanoaks across the Bay Area. Your madrone may not die from it directly, but it can harbor and spread spores to the oaks growing next to it.

Pruning Guide

Prune only when necessary, and only during dry weather, ideally late summer after the rainy season is long over. Any cut made when it is wet is an open invitation for Botryosphaeria to enter the wood. Focus on dead branches and anything rubbing or crossing the canopy, and leave the natural form alone.

Did You Know?

Madrone drops its leaves in summer, not fall, which sends homeowners into a panic every single year thinking the tree is dying. It is not. It is perfectly normal. The berries are consumed by over 50 species of birds and mammals, so a healthy, established madrone is one of the most ecologically productive trees you can have on a Bay Area property.

Where Madrone Is Found

Madrone is common in 279 of the US communities we cover, across 1 climate regions.

Hardiness Zones 1-9

Camarillo, CA Zone 10a Union City, CA Zone 9b Palo Alto, CA Zone 9b South San Francisco, CA Zone 10a Castro Valley, CA Zone 10a Santa Cruz, CA Zone 9b San Rafael, CA Zone 10a Cupertino, CA Zone 9b Petaluma, CA Zone 9b Gilroy, CA Zone 9b Novato, CA Zone 9b Watsonville, CA Zone 9b

... and 267 more cities

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