Along the edges of woods, forest trails, creeks and clearings, summer brings out the creamy white flower sprays and sweet fragrance of rose family member, ocean spray.
It’s a many-branched deciduous shrub, generally from four to ten feet tall. It prefers a shady spot and thrives in the moist soil of forests and along waterways, but also does well on rocky hillsides and is drought-resistant. It can re-sprout in burned and cleared areas, leading the way to natural reforesting of such areas.
Ocean spray is most abundant in the Pacific Northwest from British Columbia to northern California. But it is also seen further east into Idaho and Montana.
It’s known in botanical terms as Holodiscus discolor.
Thought it’s not a preferred food for wildlife, deer are reported to browse ocean spray when other food is scarce.
Native Americans Used the Hard Wood for Tools
People have always like this abundant flower.
Native Americans called it “ironwood” for its hard, straight branches. The branches were used for digging sticks, arrow shafts, salmon barbecuing sticks, spears, harpoons and other tools, plus furniture, baby cradle hoops, teepee pins and knitting needles. The wood was sometimes further hardened by fire, then polished with horsetail.
Pioneers also used the hard wood of ocean spray for tools and building materials. The leaves and flowers were also reportedly once used for various tonics and poultices.
Introduced by David Douglas
Ocean spray was introduced to botany by pioneering botanist David Douglas, namesake for the Pacific Northwest’s Douglas fir. Appropriately, ocean spray likes to grow in association with the Douglas firs, preferring acid soils.
Its botanical name Holodiscus comes from the Greek for whole and disk, referring to the disc attachment of the flower petals.
Tiny Flowers in Large Sprays
The individual flowers of ocean spray are tiny but cluster in loose cone-shaped sprays about six to seven inches long. They typically droop, but may also be upright. Though sometimes a clear white, flowers are more typically creamy white. They bloom from June through August. Buds appear in early spring.
Leaves are ovate, about three inches long, toothed and slightly lobed. The flaking bark is reddish.
Gardeners often choose ocean spray for shady areas and as cover for background areas and hilly borders. The cut flower sprays are used in flower arrangements.
Ocean spray is a flower to look for on back road drives or walks and hikes on both forest trails and more open woods and meadows.
Related Articles: Wildflowers of the Columbia River Gorge
Pacific Northwest Flowering Shrubs
Summer-blooming Native Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
References:
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle WA, Online Field Guide to Plants of Washington.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest, by Peter Alden, Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y., 1998.
Wildflowers of the Columbia River Gorge, by Russ Jolley, Oregon Historical Society Press, Portland, 1988.
“Holodiscus” (Ocean Spray) by Nancy L. Shaw, Emerenciana G. Hurd, and Peter F. Stickney, US Forest Service Woody Seed Manual.
“Ocean Spray, Panicles and Discs,” Name that Plant, by J.A. Howard-Gibbon, July 5, 2010.
Linda McDonnell - I have been a journalist for 20 years, currently freelancing. As an outdoor and nature lover, I particularly enjoy writing about outdoor ...
