Flora of North America species comparison

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Arctostaphylos manzanita

common manzanita, whiteleaf manzanita
Habit Shrubs or trees, erect, 2–8 m; burl absent or prominent, globose; twigs glabrous, sparsely short-hairy, or glandular-hairy.
Leaves

petiole 6–12 mm;

blade bright green or glaucous, shiny or dull, widely ovate or oblong-ovate to obovate, 2–5 × 1–3.5 cm, base rounded to ± cuneate, margins entire, plane, surfaces smooth or scabrous, puberulent or veins finely hairy.
Inflorescences

panicles, 3–7-branched;

immature inflorescence ± abruptly deflexed, branches spreading, axis 1.5–4.5 cm, 1+ mm diam., glabrous, sparsely short-hairy, or sparsely glandular-hairy, not viscid;

bracts not fully appressed, scalelike, deltate, 2–4 mm, apex mucronate or acuminate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy to finely glandular-hairy.
Pedicels

3–8 mm, glabrous.
Flowers

corolla white, conic to urceolate;

ovary glabrous or minutely stipitate glandular-hairy.
Fruits

depressed-globose, 8–12 mm diam., hairy or glabrous, stipitate-glandular or smooth.
Stones

distinct, sometimes connate.

Arctostaphylos manzanita
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 6 (6 in the flora).

Arctostaphylos manzanita is usually found in northern California in oak woodlands, chaparral, and open conifer forests. Subspecies manzanita is widespread throughout the Sierra Nevada foothills, north through the Cascades, and at lower elevations in the North Coast Ranges. The other subspecies are generally narrowly distributed.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Burls present; plants resprouting after fire
subsp. roofii
1. Burls absent; plants killed by fire
→ 2
2. Leaf blades lightly to strongly glaucous-green (twigs sometimes sparsely glandular-hairy).
subsp. glaucescens
2. Leaf blades dull to shiny green, not glaucous
→ 3
3. Ovaries and fruits glandular-hairy; stones often connate into single sphere, sometimes distinct.
subsp. elegans
3. Ovaries and fruits glabrous or white-hairy, eglandular; stones distinct
→ 4
4. Twigs glandular-hairy; leaf blades dull green.
subsp. wieslanderi
4. Twigs glabrous or sparsely short-hairy; leaf blades dull to bright, shiny green
→ 5
5. Leaf blades dull to shiny green; inflorescence axes many-branched, 1 mm diam.; branches usually 15-25 mm in immature phase.
subsp. manzanita
5. Leaf blades shiny green; inflorescence axes few-branched, 1+ mm diam.; branches to 15 mm in immature phase.
subsp. laevigata
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 437.
Parent taxa 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. hispidula, A. hookeri, A. hooveri, A. imbricata, A. insularis, A. klamathensis, A. luciana, A. malloryi, 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
Subordinate taxa
A. manzanita subsp. elegans, A. manzanita subsp. glaucescens, A. manzanita subsp. laevigata, A. manzanita subsp. manzanita, A. manzanita subsp. roofii, A. manzanita subsp. wieslanderi
Name authority Parry: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 491. 1887 ,
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).



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