Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Arctostaphylos hispidula

Arctostaphylos pungens

Gasquet manzanita, Howell's manzanita

Mexican manzanita, pointleaf manzanita
Habit Shrubs, erect or mound-forming, 1–3 m; burl absent; twigs finely glandular-hairy. Shrubs, erect, 1–3 m; burl absent; bark on older stems persistent, reddish, smooth; twigs sparsely short-hairy.
Leaves

petiole 3–6 mm;

blade dark green, dull, elliptic to oblanceolate, 1–3 × 0.5–1.5 cm, base cuneate, margins entire, plane, surfaces scabrous, papillate, finely glandular-hairy.

erect;

petiole 4–8 mm;

blade bright or dark green, shiny, elliptic to lanceolate-elliptic, 1.5–4 × 1–1.8 cm, base obtuse to cuneate, sometimes rounded, margins entire, plane, surfaces smooth, finely tomentose, glabrescent.
Inflorescences

panicles, 3–6-branched;

immature inflorescence pendent, branches spreading or ascending to erect, axis 1–2 cm, to 1 mm diam., finely glandular-hairy;

bracts tightly appressed, scalelike, awl-like, 2–4 mm (equaling buds), apex acuminate, surfaces finely glandular-hairy; (buds scattered along inflorescence axis, round, appearing as “beads”).

racemes, simple or 1-branched;

immature inflorescence pendent, axis 0.5–1.5 cm, 1+ mm diam., sparsely short-hairy;

bracts recurved and crowded at tip, (light green), scalelike, ovate-deltate, (clublike), 2–4 mm, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrous.
Pedicels

3–5 mm, glabrous.

5–10 mm, glabrous.
Flowers

corolla white, urceolate;

ovary glabrous.

corolla white, conic to urceolate;

ovary glabrous.
Fruits

subglobose, 5–7 mm diam., glabrous.

depressed-globose, 5–8 mm diam., glabrous.
Stones

distinct.

distinct.
2n

= 26.

= 26.

Arctostaphylos hispidula

Arctostaphylos pungens
Phenology Flowering winter–early spring. Flowering winter–early summer.
Habitat Serpentine chaparral and open forests on sandstone Open pine forests, pinyon-juniper woodlands, chaparral
Elevation 100-1100 m (300-3600 ft) 300-2600 m (1000-8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Arctostaphylos hispidula is known from Josephine County, Oregon, and adjacent California in Del Norte and Humboldt counties; there is an isolated population in northern Sonoma County, California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Arctostaphylos pungens is one of the most widespread species in western North America, and extends south to Oaxaca, Mexico. In most western states, it is found in open pine forests and pinyon-juniper woodlands, generally at higher elevations. In California, it is a chaparral species that occurs in desert and peninsular ranges of southern California mountains and has three disjunct populations in central California in San Benito and Monterey counties. These disjunct populations have been given other names, A. benitoensis and A. pseudopungens, but overall populations are A. pungens.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 420. FNA vol. 8, p. 416.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Arbutoideae > Arctostaphylos Ericaceae > subfam. Arbutoideae > Arctostaphylos
Sibling taxa
A. andersonii, A. auriculata, A. bakeri, A. canescens, A. catalinae, A. columbiana, A. confertiflora, A. crustacea, A. cruzensis, A. densiflora, A. edmundsii, A. franciscana, A. gabilanensis, A. glandulosa, A. glauca, A. glutinosa, A. hookeri, A. hooveri, A. imbricata, A. insularis, A. klamathensis, A. luciana, A. malloryi, A. manzanita, A. mewukka, A. montana, A. montaraensis, A. montereyensis, A. morroensis, A. myrtifolia, A. nevadensis, A. nissenana, A. nortensis, A. nummularia, A. obispoensis, A. ohloneana, A. osoensis, A. otayensis, A. pacifica, A. pajaroensis, A. pallida, A. parryana, A. patula, A. pechoensis, A. pilosula, A. pringlei, A. pumila, A. pungens, A. purissima, A. rainbowensis, A. refugioensis, A. regismontana, A. rudis, A. sensitiva, A. silvicola, A. stanfordiana, A. tomentosa, A. uva-ursi, A. virgata, A. viridissima, A. viscida
A. andersonii, A. auriculata, A. bakeri, A. canescens, A. catalinae, A. columbiana, A. confertiflora, A. crustacea, A. cruzensis, A. densiflora, A. edmundsii, A. franciscana, A. gabilanensis, A. glandulosa, A. glauca, A. glutinosa, A. hispidula, A. hookeri, A. hooveri, A. imbricata, A. insularis, A. klamathensis, A. luciana, A. malloryi, A. manzanita, A. mewukka, A. montana, A. montaraensis, A. montereyensis, A. morroensis, A. myrtifolia, A. nevadensis, A. nissenana, A. nortensis, A. nummularia, A. obispoensis, A. ohloneana, A. osoensis, A. otayensis, A. pacifica, A. pajaroensis, A. pallida, A. parryana, A. patula, A. pechoensis, A. pilosula, A. pringlei, A. pumila, A. purissima, A. rainbowensis, A. refugioensis, A. regismontana, A. rudis, A. sensitiva, A. silvicola, A. stanfordiana, A. tomentosa, A. uva-ursi, A. virgata, A. viridissima, A. viscida
Synonyms A. stanfordiana subsp. hispidula A. benitoensis, A. pseudopungens
Name authority Howell: Fl. N.W. Amer., 415. 1901 , Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 3(fol.): 218: plate 259. 1819 ,
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers