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Dryas (octopetala)

Tara Luna
USDI NPS - Glacier National Park
West Glacier, Montana 59936
(406) 888-7835
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/azpmc
Family Scientific Name: Rosaceae
Family Common Name: Rose family
Scientific Name: Dryas octopetala L. hookeriana (Juz.) Hult.
Common Name: Arctic Dryad
Species Code: DRYOCT
Ecotype: Subalpine meadow on exposed bedrock, Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Glacier Co., MT. 2032m elevation.
General Distribution: D.octopetala is a circumpolar species that is found from mid-montane to the alpine zone; from Alaska to the Rocky Mountains and Cascades, and east to southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon, and east across Canada to Labrador, Asia and Europe.
Propagation Goal: plants
Propagation Method: vegetative
ProductType: Container (plug)
Stock Type: 160 ml conetainers
Time To Grow: 1 Years
Target Specifications: Stock Type: Container cutting<br> Height: 3 cm, multiple leaves<br> Caliper: n/a<br> Root System: Firm plug in container.
Propagule Collection: Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-rooting
Type of Cutting: Summer softwood stem cuttings in late July.
Propagule Processing: Cuttings are kept moist and under refrigeration prior to pre treatment.
Pre-Planting Treatments: Cuttings were recut at base to 7 cm lengths with 1/3 of basal leaves removed. Cuttings were then placed in a Domain fungicide bath for 2 minutes. 1000 ppm IBA rooting hormone was used before striking cuttings in sand:perlite rooting media with intermittent mist and bottom heat at 21C.
Cuttings were overwintered directly in the mistbed and uppotted the following spring.
Rooting %: 80%, initial rooting occurred at 4 weeks
Growing Area Preparation/
Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:		 The outdoor mistbed has automatic intermittent mist that is applied at 6 second intervals every 6 minutes. Too frequent misting will result in leaf and stem rot. Misting frequency is increased or decreased according to daily outdoor temperature and wind.
Bottom heat is maintained at 21 C with heating cables buried 12 cm beneath rooting medium. Rooting medium is 50% perlite and 50% sand.
Mistbed is covered with shadecloth during rooting.
Establishment Phase: Cuttings generate roots in 4 to 5 weeks.
Length of Establishment Phase: 4 to 5 weeks
Active Growth Phase: After cuttings are potted from the mistbed, they are moved to an outdoor shadehouse for 4 weeks. They are later moved to full sun exposure in the outdoor nursery and are irrigated with Rainbird automatic irrigation system in early morning until containers are thoroughly leached.
Careful attention is needed to irrigation frequency since this species is suseptible to overwatering.
Average growing season of nursery is from late April after snowmelt until October 15th. Growing Medium used is 1:1:1 (v:v:v)peat:soil/sand:perlite medium.
Length of Active Growth Phase: 12 weeks
Hardening Phase: Cuttings are root tight the following summer and outplanted to site.
Length of Hardening Phase: 2 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping: Total Time to Harvest: 1 year from cuttings
Harvest Date: July
Storage Conditions: Overwinter outdoors under insulating foam cover and snow.
Length of Storage: 5 months
Other Comments: D. octopetala is mat-forming, nitrogen fixing pioneer species that colonizes barren slopes at high elevations.
It requires a well aerated growing medium during cultivation.
Dryas forms a symbiotic relationship with Frankia nitrogen fixing bacteria. Seedlings and cuttings would benefit from inoculation during cultivation.
There are 2 botanical varieties; var. angustifolia and var. hoookeriana.
References: Flora of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock and Cronquist, Univ. of Washington Press, 7th printing, 1973.
Seed Germination Theory andPractice, Second Edition, Deno, Norman, published 1993.
Glacier Park Native Plant Nursery Propagation Records, unpublished.
Seeding Rate Statistics for Native and Introduced Species, National Park Service, Hassell, Wendel, April 1996.
Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination, Baskin and Baskin, Academic Press, 1998.

Citation:

Luna, Tara; Evans, Jeff; Wick, Dale. 2008. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Dryas octopetala L. plants 160 ml conetainers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2025/04/20). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.