Arctostaphylos

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Arctostaphylos
Whiteleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos viscida)
Whiteleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos viscida)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Arctostaphylos
Adans.
Species

About 60, see text.

The genus Arctostaphylos, the manzanitas and bearberries, are shrubs or small trees characterised by smooth, orange or red bark and stiff, twisting branches.

Common Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Common Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

There are about 60 species of manzanita, ranging from ground-hugging coastal and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen (one species deciduous), with small oval leaves 1-7 cm long, arranged spirally on the stems. The flowers are bell-shaped, white or pale pink, and borne in small clusters of 2-20 together; flowering is in the spring. The fruit are small berries, ripening in the summer or autumn. The berries of some species are edible.

Arctostaphylos species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora arctostaphyli (which feeds exclusively on A. uva-ursi) and Coleophora glaucella.

The name means "bear grapes", derived from Greek arkto (bear) and staphyle (grape).

According to Philip V. Wells in The Jepson Manual and other sources, there are two subgenera of Arctostaphylos:

  • Subgenus Micrococcus
    • Sect. Micrococcus
      • Arctostaphylos mendocinoensis Pygmy Manzanita
      • Arctostaphylos myrtifolia Ione Manzanita
      • Arctostaphylos nissenana Nissenan Manzanita
      • Arctostaphylos nummularia Glossyleaf Manzanita
A manzanita (Arctostaphylos sp.)
A manzanita (Arctostaphylos sp.)

See also Bearberry, for some species in the genus Arctostaphylos.

Synonyms
  • Arctostaphylos bicolor is generally considered Xylococcus bicolor
  • Arctostaphylos crustacea is generally considered Arctostaphylos tomentosa ssp. crustacea

See also the closely related genus Comarostaphylis, previously often included in Arctostaphylos.

[edit] Distribution

Manzanita bark
Manzanita bark

Manzanitas are present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from southern British Columbia in Canada, Washington to California and New Mexico in the United States, and throughout much of northern and central Mexico.

Three species, the bearberries, A. alpina (Alpine Bearberry), A. rubra (Red Bearberry) and A. uva-ursi (Common Bearberry), have adapted to arctic and subarctic climates, and have a circumpolar distribution in northern North America, Asia and Europe.

An unusual association of Manzanita occurs on Hood Mountain, in Sonoma County, California, where stands of pygmy forest dominated by Mendocino Cypress are found.

[edit] Cultivation

Cultivation is generally difficult due to fungal diseases, and often salinity and alkalinity. Overhead watering should be avoided in hot weather. Some cultivars are easier to cultivate.

[edit] References

  • ITIS 23467
  • Hickman, James C. (1993). The Jepson Manual: higher plants of California, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California. ISBN 0-520-08255-9.
  • Treatment from the Jepson Manual
  • Wells, Philip V. (2000). Manzanitas of California, Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Lawrence, Kansas. ISBN 0-933994-22-2.
  • Wells, Philip V. 1992. Subgenera and sections of Arctostaphylos. The Four Seasons 9: 64-69.