Arctostaphylos hispidula

Howell's manzanita, Howell's manzanita, Howell's manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Howell's manzanita is a rare (CNPS 4.2) California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Coast Ranges in rocky serpentine and sandstone areas of interior chaparral and open woodland at elevations of 100 to 1,250 meters. Flowering from March to April, this plant produces pale pink to white flowers in small, glandular-hairy panicles. Growing as an erect shrub 1 to 3 meters tall with fine glandular-hairy twigs, it develops a distinctive branching structure. Its leaves are dull green, elliptic to oblanceolate, 1.5 to 3 centimeters long with a wedge-shaped base and acute tip, characterized by glandular-hairy and scabrous surfaces. The fruit is approximately 5 to 7 millimeters wide, nearly spherical and glabrous.

Habitat: Rocky serpentine soils or sandstone, interior chaparral, open woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: 100-1250 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO

California counties: Del Norte, Sonoma, Humboldt

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