Arctostaphylos glauca

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Ordo: Ericales

Familia: Ericaceae
Subfamilia: Arbutoideae
Genus: Arctostaphylos
Subgenus: A. subg. Arctostaphylos

Sectio: A. sect. Arctostaphylos
Species: Arctostaphylos glauca
Name

Arctostaphylos glauca Lindl. (1835)
Synonyms

Homotypic
Daphnidostaphylis glauca (Lindl.) Klotzsch, Linnaea 24: 80 (1851).
Uva-ursi glauca (Lindl.) Abrams, Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 6(21): 433 (1910).
Xerobotrys glaucus (Lindl.) Nutt., Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n.s., 8: 268 (1843).

Heterotypic
Arctostaphylos glauca f. adenopuberula P.V.Wells, Four Seasons 9: 62 (1992).
Arctostaphylos glauca f. eremicola (Jeps.) P.V.Wells, Madroño 35: 334. (1989) [1988 publ. 1989].
Arctostaphylos glauca f. puberula (Howell) P.V.Wells, Madroño 35: 334. (1989) [1988 publ. 1989].
Arctostaphylos glauca var. eremicola Jeps., Madroño 1: 78 (1922).
Arctostaphylos glauca var. puberula J.T.Howell, Leafl. W. Bot. 2: 70 (1938).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:
References
Primary references

Lindley, J. 1835. Edward's Botanical Register; or, Flower Garden and Shrubbery. London 21: sub t (1791).

Links

Hassler, M. 2020. Arctostaphylos glauca. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Apr 18. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Arctostaphylos glauca in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Apr 18. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Arctostaphylos glauca. Published online. Accessed: Apr 18 2020.
Tropicos.org 2020. Arctostaphylos glauca. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 18 Apr 2020.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Arctostaphylos glauca in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
English: bigberry manzanita

Arctostaphylos glauca is a species of manzanita known by the common name bigberry manzanita. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodland of coastal and inland hills.

Description

Arctostaphylos glauca is a large shrub varying in size from one to well over six meters in height. Individuals growing in desert regions tend to be shorter than those on the coast. Leaves are light gray-green, somewhat waxy, oval in shape to nearly round, and smooth or toothed along the edges. They are up to five centimeters long and four wide and grow on short petioles about a centimeter long.

The inflorescence holds hanging clusters of narrow urn-shaped white flowers. The edible fruit is a round or egg-shaped drupe 12 to 15 millimeters wide. It is light red in color and has a thick pulp covered in a tough, sticky coat. The fruit contains three to six nutlets fused into a single mass. The shrub reproduces by seed and by layering. Seeds require exposure to fire before they can germinate.

It is a long-lived species, reaching 100 years of age or more, though it does not begin to fruit until it is around 20 years old. The shrub is allelopathic, inhibiting the growth of other plants in its understory when rain leaches toxic arbutin and phenolic acids from its foliage.[2]
Uses

Despite their constipating effects, the fruits were eaten by the Native Americans of California, who also made the ripe fruit into a cider.[3]
See also

California chaparral and woodlands
California coastal sage and chaparral
California montane chaparral and woodlands

References

Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) & IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2019). "Arctostaphylos glauca". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 208. e.T144282654A149001453. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T144282654A149001453.en.
Ecology
Peattie, Donald Culross (1953). A Natural History of Western Trees. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 674.