Arctostaphylos auriculata

Mount diablo manzanita, Mt. Diablo manzanita, Mt. Diablo manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Mount diablo manzanita is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native shrub found in eastern San Francisco Bay region around Mount Diablo and vicinity in sandstone upland coastal chaparral at elevations of 150 to 650 meters. Flowering from February to March, this plant produces white to pale pink flowers in small panicle clusters with pendulous nascent inflorescence axes. Growing erect and robust, the shrub reaches 1 to 4.5 meters tall with white-tomentose twigs and distinctively textured branches. Its leaves are small and distinctive, with oblong to round-ovate blades 1.5 to 4.5 centimeters long, white-gray in color, featuring lobed bases that clasp the stem and entire flat margins. The fruit is a depressed spherical structure 5 to 10 millimeters wide, covered in dense short white hairs.

Habitat: Sandstone, upland chaparral near coast

Bloom period: Feb-Mar

Elevation: 150-650 m

Bioregions: e SnFrB (Mount Diablo and vicinity).

California counties: Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Cruz

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