PlantID.net

(Plant Identification for everyone)

Common Manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita) aka Whiteleaf Manzanita

Common Manzanita, found only in California, can be quite large, growing to tree size. These large Manzanitas have beautiful bare red trunks, reminding me of Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) trunks, which are browner.

Because it is so large, Comman Manzanita can really cover the ground with flowers when they fall in March.

In Marin County, this Manzanita is only found north of San Rafael and Kentfield. [California Distribution Map]

January	April	July	October
Green leaves all year long
White Flowers

Field ID Tips

· Found on grassy or open wooded non-serpentine hills

· Shrubby to tree-size.

· Leaves long, oval and thick.

· Blooms Dec - March

· Bark is red and smooth, or brown and scaly.

· Large clusters of hanging white flowers.

· Drops copious amounts of white flowers in March.

Abundant flowers.

Spherical berries with no hair.

Links:

Calphotos

Wikipedia

Manzanitas of Marin

Notice – 1) Long oval leaves, 2) tiny hairs, 3) base of early flower growth has small leaves (bracts) with brown tips.

These large manzanitas drop many flowers at the end of the blooming season.

A beautiful red-barked Common Manzanita tree.

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Last Updated 10/19/2014 by BHS.

Note to botanists – this page uses common vocabulary, sacrificing more precise scientific terms in the interest of general communication. We hope the loss of precision in wording is, to some extent, made up for by photographs showing key identification points.

Note to non-botanists – Here are some terms you might be interested in:

· Bract – Before a Manzanita flowers, it develops a distinctive pre-flower shape. In Marin, these nascent inflorescences may look like small leaves, brown scales, or red bumps. For Hoary Manzanita, the bract looks like tiny fuzzy leaves, that often recurve away from the stem.