Arctostaphylos insularis

Island manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Island manzanita is a California native shrub found on Santa Cruz Island in rocky slopes, chaparral, and woodland habitats at elevations below 400 meters. Flowering from January to March, this plant produces white to pink urn-shaped flowers in pendant panicle clusters. Growing as an erect shrub 2 to 5 meters tall with smooth, distinctive reddish bark and bright green, shiny leaves, it forms an elegant landscape profile. Its leaves are oblong-elliptic, cupped, 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters long and 1 to 3 centimeters wide, with entire margins and a rounded base. The fruit is a depressed-spheric berry 8 to 15 millimeters wide, with stones that may be variably fused or free.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, chaparral, woodland

Bloom period: Jan-Mar

Elevation: < 400 m

Bioregions: n ChI (Santa Cruz Island).

California counties: Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Orange, Monterey

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