''Arctostaphylos pajaroensis'' is a species of
manzanita known by the common name Pajaro manzanita. It is
endemic to
California, where it is known mainly from
Monterey County
Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas.
Montere ...
.
Historical occurrences have been noted in
Santa Cruz County and far western
San Benito County — these may no longer exist. Most of the extant populations are located in the hills south of the
Pajaro River Valley.
Local Plant Profile
/ref> It is a member of the chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
plant community.
Description
''Arctostaphylos pajaroensis'' is an erect shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
growing at least tall and known to exceed in height. It has shreddy red or grayish bark with woolly hairs and long white bristles on its smaller twigs. The dense foliage is made up of gray-green, reddish-tinted leaves with smooth, toothed, or rolled edges. They are oval to somewhat triangular in shape and 2 to 4 centimeters long.
The shrub flowers in the winter, bearing large loose inflorescences of pink to nearly white urn-shaped flowers. The fruit is a drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
about 7 millimeters wide.
See also
*California chaparral and woodlands
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment ''Arctostaphylos pajaroensis''USDA Plants Profile: ''Arctostaphylos pajaroensis''''Arctostaphylos pajaroensis'' — U.C. Photo gallery
pajaroensis
Endemic flora of California
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Natural history of Monterey County, California
Plants described in 1939
{{Ericaceae-stub