Arctostaphylos mendocinoensis
Encyclopedia
Arctostaphylos mendocinoensis is a species of manzanita
known by the common name pygmy manzanita. It is endemic to Mendocino County, California
and Sonoma County, California
, where it is known from only one occurrence in the pygmy forest
s along the coastline. This is a small, mat-forming shrub
growing in low mounds less than half a meter tall. It has red, shreddy bark and bristles along its smaller branches. The leaves are dark green, shiny, convex, and hairless, and rarely more than a centimeter long. The inflorescence
is a dense cluster of urn-shaped flowers with four tiny lobes at the mouth. The fruit is a cylindrical drupe
only a few millimeters long, containing four tiny seeds.
Arctostaphylos
Arctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprised by the manzanitas and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees.There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen , with small oval...
known by the common name pygmy manzanita. It is endemic to Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California, north of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and west of the Central Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 87,841, up from 86,265 at the 2000 census...
and Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
, where it is known from only one occurrence in the pygmy forest
Pygmy forest
A pygmy forest is a forest which, for pedological and geological reasons, contains only miniature trees. Pygmy forests may occur over various world locations with notable occurrences being noted in the literature of the: California coastal terraces and inner coastal mountains of Northern...
s along the coastline. This is a small, mat-forming shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
growing in low mounds less than half a meter tall. It has red, shreddy bark and bristles along its smaller branches. The leaves are dark green, shiny, convex, and hairless, and rarely more than a centimeter long. The inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a dense cluster of urn-shaped flowers with four tiny lobes at the mouth. The fruit is a cylindrical drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
only a few millimeters long, containing four tiny seeds.