Flora of North America species comparison

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Arctostaphylos nissenana

Arctostaphylos patula

nissenan manzanita

green-leaf manzanita
Habit Shrubs, erect or mound-forming, 0.2–1.5 m; burl absent; bark on older stems persistent, gray, shredded; twigs short soft-hairy. Shrubs, erect or mound-forming, 1–3 m; burl usually absent, sometimes flat, obscure; twigs usually densely short-hairy with golden glands on tips of hairs, rarely short white-hairy and eglandular.
Leaves

petiole 1–3 mm;

blade gray-glaucous, dull, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 1–2 × 0.8–1.5 cm, base cuneate to rounded, margins entire, plane, surfaces smooth, sparsely appressed-puberulent, glabrescent.

petiole 7–15 mm;

blade bright green (lightly gray-green if short-hairy), shiny, widely ovate to orbiculate, 2.5–6 × 1.5–4 cm, base rounded, truncate, or slightly lobed, (not clasping), margins entire, plane, surfaces smooth, glabrous or, rarely, short-hairy.
Inflorescences

racemes, simple or 1-branched;

immature inflorescence pendent, (framed by leafy bracts), axis 0.2–0.5 cm, 1+ mm diam., short soft-hairy;

bracts not appressed, narrowly leaflike, lanceolate, 3–5 mm, apex acute, surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy.

panicles, 2–8-branched;

immature inflorescence pendent, branches spreading, axis 1.5–3 cm, 1+ mm diam., hairy with golden glands on tips of hairs or short-hairy and eglandular;

bracts appressed with incurved tips, scalelike, deltate, 4–6 mm, apex acuminate, surfaces usually densely tomentose with golden glands on tips of hairs, rarely short white-hairy and eglandular.
Pedicels

5–7 mm, sparsely hairy or glabrous.

2–7 mm, glabrous or white-hairy.
Flowers

corolla white, urceolate;

ovary white-hairy.

corolla mostly pink, conic to urceolate;

ovary glabrous or white-hairy.
Fruits

subglobose, 3–4 mm diam., glabrous.

depressed-globose, sometimes subglobose, 7–10 mm diam., glabrous.
Stones

distinct.

distinct.
2n

= 26.

= 26.

Arctostaphylos nissenana

Arctostaphylos patula
Phenology Flowering winter–early spring. Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Shallow shale soils in chaparral and foothill woodlands Mountain chaparral and forests
Elevation 500-1200 m (1600-3900 ft) 400-3000 m (1300-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Arctostaphylos nissenana occurs in the western Sierra Nevada in El Dorado, Placer, and Tuolumne counties.

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

Arctostaphylos patula is abundant and widespread in western North America as a dominant in montane chaparral, pine forest gaps, and high-elevation arid-steppe and canyon-land environments. Populations throughout western North America are characterized by twigs and inflorescence parts covered with relatively short hairs tipped with golden glands. In the central to northern Sierra Nevada, mixed with the widespread form are individuals that are eglandular and have a cover of relatively short, whitish hairs on the stems and inflorescences. Similarly, throughout most of its range, A. patula is nonsprouting after fire, and in areas characterized by winter snow cover it layers and creates broad, low mounds. In much of California, it typically sprouts after fires from obscure and flattened burls, forming circles of erect sprouts.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 425. 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. morroensis, A. myrtifolia, A. nevadensis, 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. 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
Synonyms A. acutifolia, A. parryana var. pinetorum, A. patula var. coalescens, A. patula subsp. platyphylla, A. platyphylla
Name authority Merriam: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 31: 102, plates 4, 5. 1918 , Greene: Pittonia 2: 171. 1891 ,
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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