''Arctostaphylos stanfordiana'', with the common name Stanford's manzanita, is a species of
manzanita that is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to northern
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. It is known from the outer
North Coast Ranges north of the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
.
Description
''Arctostaphylos stanfordiana'' is a bushy
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 in height. Leaves are oblong to widely lance-shaped, shiny green, and up to 5 centimeters long.
The
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
is a loose cluster of urn-shaped manzanita flowers which are pink, with some so pale that they are nearly white. The fruit is an oblong
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.
;Subspecies
There are three subspecies:
*''A. s.'' ssp. ''decumbens'' (Rincon manzanita) - rare subspecies endemic to
Sonoma County
*''A. s.'' ssp. ''raichei'' (Raiche's manzanita) - known mostly from
Mendocino County
*''A. s.'' ssp. ''stanfordiana'' (Stanford's manzanita) - more widespread than other subspecies
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 ...
*
California montane chaparral and woodlands
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Arctostaphylos stanfordiana''USDA Plants Profile; Arctostaphylos stanfordiana''Arctostaphylos stanfordiana'' - Photo gallery
stanfordiana
Endemic flora of California
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Stanford University
Plants described in 1887
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
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