Arctostaphylos silvicola
Encyclopedia
Arctostaphylos silvicola is a species of manzanita
known by the common name Bonny Doon manzanita. It is endemic to Santa Cruz County, California
, where it is known from only about 20 occurrences in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains
.
growing at least a meter tall and known to exceed six meters in height, looking much like a tree. The bark is dark red and smooth. The leaves are greenish gray in color and sometimes slightly woolly. They are oval in shape and up to 3.5 centimeters long. The shrub flowers in inflorescence
s of long, urn-shaped manzanita flowers and produces drupe
s 6 to 12 millimeters wide. A main threat to this species is sand mining
.
on the sandy coastal slopes.
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 Bonny Doon manzanita. It is endemic to Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...
, where it is known from only about 20 occurrences in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...
.
Description
This is a large 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...
growing at least a meter tall and known to exceed six meters in height, looking much like a tree. The bark is dark red and smooth. The leaves are greenish gray in color and sometimes slightly woolly. They are oval in shape and up to 3.5 centimeters long. The shrub flowers in 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...
s of long, urn-shaped manzanita flowers and produces 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...
s 6 to 12 millimeters wide. A main threat to this species is sand mining
Sand mining
Sand mining is a practice that is becoming an environmental issue as the demand for sand increases in industry and construction. Sand is mined from beaches and inland dunes and dredged from ocean beds and river beds. It is often used in manufacturing as an abrasive, for example, and it is used to...
.
Habitat
Arctostaphylos silvicola grows in coniferous forest and chaparralChaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
on the sandy coastal slopes.