Montara Manzanita
Arctostaphylos montaraensis
Heath Family (Ericaceae)
Native
Key Identifying Characteristics
Evergreen shrub with dark reddish bark, but no burl at base of plant. Overlapping leaves clasp the stems and branchlets are glandular (sticky). Clusters of urn-shaped, white to pale pink flowers in late winter.
Similar To
Brittleleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos crustacea ssp. crustacea). Brittleleaf Manzanita has a burl and leaves with stems. Montanra Manzanita has no burl, and clasping leaves (no stems).
Height / Size
Up to 16 feet tall and 8 feet wide.
Leaves
Bright green leaves come to a fine point. Base of the leaf is lobed and clasps the stem without a petiole (auriculate-clasping). Leaves overlap each other and are covered in fine hairs that are sparsely glandular (sticky).
Flower
White to pale pink flowers hang in clusters. Flowers are hairy, cone urn- shaped (urceolate) with slightly lobed, flared openings that hang down.
Bloom Time: January to March
Fruit / Seed
Fruit looks like little apples from green to bright red in color. Fruit is glandular-hairy, depressed-spheric in shape, with nutlets typically free (not fused) to occasionally separable.
Habitat
Granite, sandstone outcrops, Maritime Chaparral, Coastal Scrub.
Location / Range
Hazelnut Trail, Brooks Creek Trail and Montara Mountain Trail. The Montara Manzanita is one step away from extinction according to the CA Rare Plant Rank (CRPR) and only occurs in two places: Montara Mountain and San Bruno Mountain: the larger population occurring on Montara Mountain.
Typical Life Span
20 to 30 years
Fascinating / Fun Facts
Manzanita in Spanish means “little apple” which comes from the plants small apple like fruits. The dense fog layer of Maritime Chaparral provides water via fog drip, during the dry summer season that provides a buffer against heat stress during the hottest time of the year.
Read More
Status
Global: G1 – Critically Imperiled
Federal: No protection
State: No protection
CNPS Rare Plant Rank: 🔴 1B.2 (rare, threatened, or endangered) 🔴
The Montara Manzanita is one step away from extinction according to the CA Rare Plant Rank (CRPR) and only occurs in two places: Montara Mountain and San Bruno Mountain. The larger population occurring on Montara Mountain.
Nature Talks:
Sources:
Calflora
Calscape
Kauffmann, Michael, et al. Field Guide to Manzanitas : California, North America and Mexico. Kneeland, Calif., Backcountry Press, 2015.
Greg.app
iNaturalist
Jepson eFlora
VanderWerf, Barbara. 1994. Montara Mountain. Gum Tree Lane Books, El Granada, CA
PlantID.net for San Pedro Valley CP (NRDB.org)
Spanishdict.com