Common Name:
Silktassel
Tasseltree
About 18 species of evergreen trees or shrubs, branches usually ascending, 4-sided at first, pubescent when young. Leaves opposite, simple, leathery, entire, short petiole. Dioecious, i.e., male and female plants. Small flowers in pendulous female and male catkins. Fruit is a round, leathery, dry, 2-seeded berry.
Garrya: after Nicholas Garry (1782-1856) deputy-governor of the Hudson Bay Company (1821-1835), who helped David Douglas on this plant collecting trips to the Pacific Northwest. He is also honored in the name of the Oregon White Oak, Quercus garryana.
Pronunciation:
GAR-i-a
Family:
Garryaceae