Arctostaphylos viscida subsp. pulchella

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Santa Cruz manzanita is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Coast Ranges in openings within chaparral and forest at elevations of 150 to 1,400 meters. Flowering from February to April, this plant produces white to pink flowers with distinctive sticky-glandular ovaries. Growing as a compact shrub with smooth, reddish-brown twigs that are glabrous or sparsely short-haired, it forms dense, rounded clusters. Its leaves are glabrous, creating a smooth, glossy appearance against the plant's distinctive bark. The fruit is characterized by its sticky, rough surface, reflecting the plant's unique glandular texture.

Habitat: Openings in chaparral, forest

Bloom period: Feb-Apr

Elevation: 150-1400 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR

California counties: Lake, Del Norte, Napa, Sonoma, Tehama, Siskiyou, Colusa, Glenn, Butte, Shasta, Mendocino, Trinity

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