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 pacifica

Arctostaphylos mewukka

Pacific manzanita

Indian manzanita
Habit Shrubs, prostrate or mound-forming, 0.1–0.3 m; burl present, sometimes epicormic; twigs short-hairy. Shrubs, erect, 1–3 m; burl present or absent; twigs glabrous or slightly hairy and sparsely glandular.
Leaves

petiole 2–4 mm;

blade light green abaxially, dark green adaxially, shiny, elliptic, 1–2 × 0.5–1 cm, base cuneate, margins serrulate, plane, surfaces smooth, sparsely hairy.

petiole 6–15 mm;

blade intensely gray- or white-glaucous, dull, orbiculate, orbiculate-ovate, oblong-ovate, or lanceolate-ovate, 3–7 × 2–7 cm, base rounded, margins entire, plane, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces smooth, glabrous.
Inflorescences

racemes, (simple or 1-branched);

immature inflorescence pendent, (congested), axis 0.5–1 cm, 1+ mm diam., short-hairy;

bracts appressed, scalelike, awl-like, 0.5–1 mm, apex acute, glabrous.

panicles, 2–7-branched;

immature inflorescence pendent, axis 2–3 cm, 1+ mm diam., glabrous or slightly hairy, sometimes glandular;

bracts tightly appressed, scalelike, deltate to linear-lanceolate, 3–6 mm, apex acute or acuminate, surfaces glabrous.
Pedicels

3–5 mm, glabrous.

4–8 mm, glabrous.
Flowers

corolla white, urceolate;

ovary glabrous.

corolla white, conic to urceolate;

ovary glabrous.
Fruits

(reddish), globose, 6–8 mm diam., glabrous.

(dark mahogany-brown), globose, 12–16 mm diam., glabrous.
Stones

distinct.

distinct, sometimes connate.

Arctostaphylos pacifica

Arctostaphylos mewukka
Phenology Flowering winter–early spring.
Habitat Sandstone outcrops
Elevation 300 m (1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

A distinctive species with an uncertain origin, Arctostaphylos pacifica has often been relegated to hybrid status and ignored; it displays a number of unique characters not found in any other species. It is found only at one location, San Bruno Mountain, the northern part of the Santa Cruz Mountains, San Mateo County. The relationships of this species need additional study.

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

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Arctostaphylos mewukka is found on the western slopes of the central and northern Sierra Nevada.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Burls present; leaf blades 2-4 cm wide, apex acute.
subsp. mewukka
1. Burls absent; leaf blades 4-7 cm wide, apex obtuse.
subsp. truei
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 415. FNA vol. 8, p. 421.
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. nissenana, A. nortensis, A. nummularia, A. obispoensis, A. ohloneana, A. osoensis, A. otayensis, 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. 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. mewukka subsp. mewukka, A. mewukka subsp. truei
Name authority Roof: Leafl. W. Bot. 9: 217. 1962 , Merriam: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 31: 101, plates 2, 3. 1918 ,
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