Arctostaphylos hooveri

Hoover's manzanita, Hoover's manzanita, Hoover's manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Hoover's manzanita is a rare (CNPS 4.3) California native shrub found in the Santa Lucia Range in rocky slopes, upland chaparral, and open ponderosa-pine forest near the coast at elevations of 450 to 1,100 meters. Flowering from February to April, this plant produces pink to white urn-shaped flowers in pendant clusters with glandular-hairy branches. Growing as a small shrub or tree 2 to 8 meters tall with distinctively glandular-hairy twigs, it develops a complex branching structure. Its leaves are oblong to ovate, 4 to 6 centimeters long, glaucous and sticky, with a boat-shaped profile and entire margins that become smoother with age. The fruit is a sticky, depressed-spheric structure 10 to 15 millimeters wide, covered in glandular hairs.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, upland chaparral, open ponderosa-pine forest near coast

Bloom period: Feb-Apr

Elevation: 450-1100 m

Bioregions: SCoRO (Santa Lucia Range).

California counties: Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo

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