Arctostaphylos viridissima

White-haired manzanita, White-Haired Manzanita, white-haired manzanita, white-haired manzanita

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

White-haired manzanita is a rare (CNPS 4.2) California native shrub found in the eastern Santa Cruz Island bioregion in chaparral and closed-cone conifer forest on shale outcrops at elevations of 100 to 550 meters. Flowering from January to March, this plant produces white to pale pink flowers in small, pendulous racemes, with delicate white hairs covering the nascent inflorescence. Growing erect and reaching 1 to 4 meters tall, it features distinctive bright green, shiny leaves that are narrowly to oblong-ovate with truncate bases and soft-pointed tips. Its leaves are 2 to 3.5 centimeters long, initially puberulent and becoming glabrous with age, and are arranged in an overlapping pattern along white-haired branches. The fruit is nearly spherical, 10 to 15 millimeters wide, and sparsely covered with non-glandular hairs.

Habitat: Shale outcrops, chaparral, closed-cone conifer forest

Bloom period: Jan-Mar

Elevation: 100-550 m

Bioregions: n ChI (e Santa Cruz Island).

California counties: Santa Barbara, San Francisco, 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.