Arctostaphylos nummularia
Encyclopedia
Arctostaphylos nummularia is a species of manzanita
known by the common name glossyleaf manzanita. It is endemic to California
, where it grows in the forests of the coastal and inland ranges north of the San Francisco Bay
.
reaching a maximum height between one and two meters. The smaller twigs are covered lightly in white glandular bristles. The leaves are oval-shaped to nearly round, one to two centimeters long and wide. The edges are very finely toothed to nearly smooth, lined with tiny bristles, and sometimes curled under. The upper surface of the leaf is darker green and shinier than the underside.
The inflorescence
holds a cluster of hanging flowers, which are spherical and white to pink-tinged. The fruit is a cylindrical drupe
less than half a centimeter long containing a few 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 glossyleaf manzanita. It is endemic to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it grows in the forests of the coastal and inland ranges north of the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
.
Description
Arctostaphylos nummularia is a red-barked shrubShrub
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...
reaching a maximum height between one and two meters. The smaller twigs are covered lightly in white glandular bristles. The leaves are oval-shaped to nearly round, one to two centimeters long and wide. The edges are very finely toothed to nearly smooth, lined with tiny bristles, and sometimes curled under. The upper surface of the leaf is darker green and shinier than the underside.
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...
holds a cluster of hanging flowers, which are spherical and white to pink-tinged. 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...
less than half a centimeter long containing a few seeds.