Arctostaphylos silvicola

Bonny doon manzanita, Bonny Doon Manzanita, Bonny Doon manzanita, Bonny Doon manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Bonny doon manzanita is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native shrub found in the southwestern Santa Cruz Mountains sandhills in Santa Cruz County, inhabiting weathered sandstone soils in chaparral and conifer forest at elevations below 600 meters. Flowering from February to March, this plant produces pale pink to white flowers in pendulous racemes with delicate, leaf-like bracts. Growing 1 to 3 meters tall with erect stems covered in soft, non-glandular hairs, it develops a distinctive gray-green foliage. Its leaves are narrowly obovate, 1.5 to 3.5 centimeters long, with a wedge-shaped base and obtuse tip, appearing appressed-canescent when young and becoming glaucous with age. The fruit is a smooth, spherical drupe 6 to 12 millimeters wide, containing stones that may be variably fused or separate.

Habitat: Weathered sandstone soils in chaparral, conifer forest

Bloom period: Feb-Mar

Elevation: < 600 m

Bioregions: sw SnFrB (Santa Cruz Sandhills, Santa Cruz Co.).

California counties: Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Monterey

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