Arctostaphylos viridissima
Encyclopedia
Arctostaphylos viridissima is a species of manzanita
known by the common names whitehair manzanita and McMinn's manzanita. It is endemic to Santa Cruz Island
, one of the Channel Islands of California
.
Arctostaphylos viridissima is a shrub
varying in shape and size. It may be a matted bush one meter (~3 ft) tall to a spreading treelike form over 4 meters (~12 ft) in height. Its stem and branches are covered in peeling red bark and its smaller twigs are woolly and bear long white bristles. The leaves are oval in shape, fuzzy when new and green and shiny when mature, reaching 3.5 centimeters.
The inflorescence
is a dense cluster of urn-shaped manzanita flowers. The fruit is a fuzzy drupe
just over a centimeter wide.
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 names whitehair manzanita and McMinn's manzanita. It is endemic to Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island was the largest privately owned island off the continental United States, but is currently part-owned by the National Park service . The island, located off the coast of California, is long and from wide...
, one of the Channel Islands of California
Channel Islands of California
The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America...
.
Arctostaphylos viridissima is a 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...
varying in shape and size. It may be a matted bush one meter (~3 ft) tall to a spreading treelike form over 4 meters (~12 ft) in height. Its stem and branches are covered in peeling red bark and its smaller twigs are woolly and bear long white bristles. The leaves are oval in shape, fuzzy when new and green and shiny when mature, reaching 3.5 centimeters.
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 manzanita flowers. The fruit is a fuzzy 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...
just over a centimeter wide.