Arctostaphylos pumila

Sandmat manzanita, Sandmat Manzanita, sandmat manzanita, sandmat manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Sandmat manzanita is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native shrub found in central Coast Ranges around Monterey Bay in sandy soils of chaparral and oak woodland at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from February to April, this plant produces white to pink flowers in small, pendulous racemes with distinctive reddish-tinged bracts. Growing prostrate to mounded, typically 10 to 100 centimeters tall with persistent reddish stems that slightly shred with age, it forms a low, spreading ground cover. Its leaves are narrowly obovate, dark green and somewhat shiny, with wedge-shaped bases and obtuse tips, measuring 1 to 2 centimeters long and featuring a distinctive cupped margin tinged with red. The fruit is a small spherical drupe approximately 5 to 6 millimeters wide, sparsely hairy to nearly smooth.

Habitat: Sandy soils in chaparral, oak woodland

Bloom period: Feb-Apr

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: c CCo (around Monterey Bay, Monterey Co.).

California counties: Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, Orange

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