Flora of North America species comparison

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Arctostaphylos patula

Ericaceae subfam. arbutoideae

green-leaf manzanita
Habit 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. Shrubs or trees, multicellular hairs present or, sometimes, absent (Comarostaphylis); bark smooth, not furrowed, often flaky, sometimes shredding.
Stems

erect or prostrate.
Leaves

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.

persistent (deciduous in Arctous), usually alternate, sometimes opposite or whorled (Ornithostaphylos), rarely opposite (Xylococcus);

petiole usually present, sometimes absent (Arctostaphylos);

blade plane, abaxial groove absent.
Inflorescences

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.

terminal, panicles or racemes;

perulae absent;

bracts much shorter than sepals;

bracteoles 2 or absent (Arctostaphylos, Arctous).
Pedicels

2–7 mm, glabrous or white-hairy.

Flowers

corolla mostly pink, conic to urceolate;

ovary glabrous or white-hairy.

pendulous;

sepals (4-)5;

petals (4-)5, connate, corolla deciduous, usually urceolate, sometimes cylindric, conic, or globose, lobes much shorter than tube;

intrastaminal nectary disc present;

stamens (8-)10;

anthers dehiscent by slits or pores;

ovary 2-10-locular;

placentation axile;

style straight.
Fruits

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

drupaceous (baccate in Arbutus), (pulp mealy or juicy), indehiscent;

pyrenes 1-5, often connate into stonelike endocarp.
Seeds

1-10, usually distinct, sometimes connate, globose (sometimes 3-sided), not winged.
Stones

distinct.

2n

= 26.

Arctostaphylos patula

Ericaceae subfam. arbutoideae
Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Mountain chaparral and forests
Elevation 400-3000 m (1300-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
North America; Mexico; Central America; Europe; n Africa; n Atlantic Islands (Canary Islands); most species endemic to western North America
Discussion

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.)

Genera 6, species 91 or 92 (6 genera, 70 species in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 416. FNA vol. 8, p. 397. Author: Gordon C. Tucker.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Arbutoideae > Arctostaphylos Ericaceae
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. 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
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms A. acutifolia, A. parryana var. pinetorum, A. patula var. coalescens, A. patula subsp. platyphylla, A. platyphylla tribe Arbuteae
Name authority Greene: Pittonia 2: 171. 1891 , Niedenzu: Niedenzu, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 11: 135. (1889)
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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