Arctostaphylos patula
Arctostaphylos nortensis
green-leaf manzanita
Del Norte manzanita
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.
petiole 4–5 mm;
blade gray-glaucous, becoming dark green, dull, narrowly elliptic-ovate, 2–4 × 1–2 cm, base truncate to rounded, margins entire, plane, (sometimes sparsely ciliate), surfaces smooth, finely white-tomentose or glabrous.
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.
racemes, simple or 1-branched;
immature inflorescence pendent, (branches crowded, bell-shaped, ± obscured by bracts), axis 0.5–1.2 cm, 1+ mm diam., soft-hairy with minute glands on cryptic, short hairs or at tips of longer, hispid hairs;
bracts not appressed, (green), leaflike, ovate, 5–10 mm, apex acute, surfaces hairy, (also with longer hairs).
2–7 mm, glabrous or white-hairy.
2–4 mm, sparsely white-hairy.
corolla mostly pink, conic to urceolate;
ovary glabrous or white-hairy.
corolla white, conic to urceolate;
ovary densely white-hairy.
depressed-globose, sometimes subglobose, 7–10 mm diam., glabrous.
depressed-globose, 6–8 mm diam., sparsely white-hairy.
distinct.
distinct.
= 26.
= 26.
Arctostaphylos patula
Arctostaphylos nortensis
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.)
Of conservation concern.
Arctostaphylos nortensis occurs on upland peridodite soils in the interior mountains of Del Norte County, California, and adjacent Curry and Josephine counties, Oregon. It appears to be a distinct entity and well distributed in this limited region; it could be confused with hybrids between A. canescens and A. viscida that have been described from the interior portion of its range. In the protologue, Wells did not mention their glandular pubescence, clearly visible on the type specimen; this feature can be difficult to discern in some herbarium specimens. The region of northwestern California and adjacent southwestern Oregon needs more study, this taxon being one example.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
SW CO Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
