Cascara is a host plant for the caterpillars of gray hairstreak and swallowtail butterflies and more than a dozen moth species, which feed on its leaves. Birds like bushtits, kinglets, warblers and chickadees forage on insects found on leaves, twigs and bark. Birds-including band-tailed pigeons, robins, tanagers and grosbeaks-as well as mammals such as raccoons and coyotes, are attracted to the pea-sized fruit. Pollinators-such as hummingbirds and native bees-come to Cascara’s late spring flowers. It is probable that this practice has heavily reduced cascara populations. The dried bark of Cascara has been used for hundreds of years as a laxative-first by indigenous peoples and then commercially (sold as Cascara sagrada)-and the high demand for it has led to unethical harvesting from wild trees, which deprive the plants of their protective and essential bark. It grows up to about 30 feet tall and roughly half as wide. It’s found in moist to dry shady forests and mixed woodlands, often along streams or in moist ravines at low to middle elevations, as well as floodplains. The epitaph, purshiana, commemorates Frederick Traugott Pursh, a remarkably well-traveled (often on foot) 18th century German-American botanist who made major contributions to North American botany.Ĭascara naturally occurs along the Pacific coast from British Columbia south into northern California, as well as parts of Idaho and Montana. In autumn, its leaves turn yellow to orange and may hang on in areas with mild winters.įrangula purshiana is a member of the Rhamnaceae family the species name relates to frangulanin, a peptide alkaloid. But Cascara’s charm doesn’t stop there: Springtime brings loose clusters of small, pale greenish-yellow flowers that later become small red fruit (a drupe, each containing 2 or 3 seeds) that ripen to the deepest purplish-blue. Rhamnus purshiana) is its texture: Silvery gray bark that’s nearly smooth, and oval glossy green leaves with veins so prominent that they make the surface wavy and crinkled-looking. Of the 35+ Frangula species worldwide, the Northwest’s representative is a lovely medium-sized tree or tall shrub. The first thing you may notice about Cascara ( Frangula purshiana, syn.
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