Arctostaphylos andersonii

Anderson's manzanita, Anderson's Manzanita, Anderson's manzanita, Anderson's manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: tree · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Anderson's manzanita is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native tree found in the western Santa Cruz Mountains in open sites or forest edges of redwood and mixed-evergreen forest at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from January to March, this plant produces light green to white flowers in pendulous panicles with lanceolate bracts. Growing 2 to 5 meters tall with tree-like habit, it develops dense tomentose twigs and branches that appear silvery-green. Its distinctive leaves are boat-shaped, 4 to 7 centimeters long, with entire margins and a clasping base that appears glabrous on both surfaces. The fruit is a sticky, slightly depressed spherical structure 6 to 8 millimeters wide with glandular-hairy surfaces.

Habitat: Open sites or forest edge, redwood or mixed-evergreen forest, occasionally in chaparral near coast

Bloom period: Jan-Mar

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: w SnFrB (Santa Cruz Mtns).

California counties: Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Francisco, Contra Costa, San Benito

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.