Flora of North America species comparison

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Arctostaphylos morroensis

Arctostaphylos pungens

Morro manzanita

Mexican manzanita, pointleaf manzanita
Habit Shrubs, erect or mound-forming, 1–4 m; burl absent; bark on older stems persistent, gray, shredded; twigs short-hairy with long, white hairs. Shrubs, erect, 1–3 m; burl absent; bark on older stems persistent, reddish, smooth; twigs sparsely short-hairy.
Leaves

bifacial in stomatal distribution;

petiole 2–5 mm;

blade dull gray abaxially, dark green, ± shiny adaxially, oblong-ovate to oblong-elliptic, 1.5–3 × 1–2 cm, base subcordate to ± truncate (sometimes with vestigial auricles), margins entire, cupped, abaxial surface smooth, densely tomentose, adaxial surface smooth, glabrous.

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, 2–5-branched;

immature inflorescence pendent, (branches congested, bell-shaped, partly framed by bracts), axis 0.5–0.8 cm, 1+ mm diam., short-hairy with long, white hairs;

bracts not appressed, leaflike, linear-lanceolate, 5–8 mm, apex acuminate, surfaces puberulent.

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

4–6 mm, hairy or glabrous.

5–10 mm, glabrous.
Flowers

corolla white, urceolate;

ovary densely white-hairy.

corolla white, conic to urceolate;

ovary glabrous.
Fruits

depressed-globose, 7–10 mm diam., sparsely hairy.

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

distinct.

distinct.
2n

= 26.

= 26.

Arctostaphylos morroensis

Arctostaphylos pungens
Phenology Flowering winter–early spring. Flowering winter–early summer.
Habitat Maritime chaparral on sandy soils near coast Open pine forests, pinyon-juniper woodlands, chaparral
Elevation 0-100 m (0-300 ft) 300-2600 m (1000-8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Arctostaphylos morroensis is known from the Morro Bay region in San Luis Obispo County.

(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. 432. 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. 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. 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. benitoensis, A. pseudopungens
Name authority Wieslander & B. Schreiber: Madroño 5: 42, fig. 2a. 1939 , 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).



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