Flora of North America species comparison

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Arctostaphylos pungens

Mexican manzanita, pointleaf manzanita
Habit Shrubs, erect, 1–3 m; burl absent; bark on older stems persistent, reddish, smooth; twigs sparsely short-hairy.
Leaves

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

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

5–10 mm, glabrous.
Flowers

corolla white, conic to urceolate;

ovary glabrous.
Fruits

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

distinct.
2n

= 26.

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

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. 416.
Parent taxa 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. 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 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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