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| Arctostaphylos ssp. Manzanita | |
| Kingdom
Plantae – Plants Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons Subclass Dilleniidae – Order Ericales – Family Ericaceae – Heath family Genus Arctostaphylos – Manzanita |
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The family Ericaceae consists of shrubs, tress, and perennial herbs, many of them familar as garden plants: rhododendrons, azaleas, heaths, heathers, and blueberries. Manzanitas are variable in size, ranging from prostrate bushes a couple of feet tall to shrub-trees 10 feet high or taller. They all have thick, leathery leaves, smooth or a bit raspy, pointed-oval, on short petioles, blue-green to grey-green in color, and 1 - 1.5 inches long. The bark is the most distinctive part of the plants, with its famous Manzanita red-brown. |
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The regular flowers usually have a 5-lobed calyx and a corolla of either 5 lobes or 5 separate petals, with 5 or 10 stamens. Flowers show in spring as masses of mostly terminal white to pink urns, maturing into reddish berries. Berries are mealy-bland in taste, but with a little tartness. |
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The fruit is fleshy or dry, and usually partitioned into 5 seed producing divisions. |  |
| The genus Manzanita has a high degree of endemism and over 80+ taxa. Several species extend out of the California Floristic Province, including the circumboreal A. uva-ursi. Manzanitas are important members of a number of plant communities, especially chaparral. The word manzanita translates as "little apple". | ||
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| Plant characteristics | ||
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| Copyright 2002 |
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