Arctostaphylos sensitiva

Glossyleaf manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Glossyleaf manzanita is a California native shrub found in western San Francisco Bay region, specifically on Bolinas Ridge, Mount Tamalpais, and Santa Cruz Mountains in rocky chaparral and closed-cone conifer forest at elevations below 600 meters. Flowering from January to April, this plant produces white flowers in pendulous panicle clusters with delicate branching. Growing one to two meters tall with erect stems densely covered in short and long glandular hairs, it develops distinctive glossy leaves. Its leaves are round to round-ovate, measuring one to 2.2 centimeters long, with a shiny dark green upper surface and light green undersurface, featuring a truncate base and entire margins. The mature fruit develops as a small subcylindric structure three to four millimeters wide, with stones that separate upon splitting.

Habitat: Rocky sites, chaparral, closed-cone conifer forest

Bloom period: Jan-Apr

Elevation: < 600 m

Bioregions: w SnFrB (Bolinas Ridge, Mount Tamalpais, Santa Cruz Mtns).

California counties: Santa Cruz, Marin, San Mateo, Monterey

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