Description
The Mission Manzanita is a slow-growing shrub that resembles the true manzanitas (Arctostaphylos). The form is upright, usually with a single trunk and a roughly spheroid crown. Leaves are oblong, glossy dark green on the top and very light colored with a felty texture on the underside. The edges of the leaves curl under as they age. Bark is smooth and a red-gray color.
Flowers, which appear from December to February depending on rainfall, are white to pink in color blending to yellowish at the open end, 8-10mm in length and hang like bells in small clusters near the ends of branches.
Fruit is glossy dark red to almost black, 7mm diameter and has very little flesh, being mostly a large, woody seed. The name Xylococcus comes from the Greek for "wood berry".
- Mission Manzanita
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Mission Manzanita blooming. Shows clustered bell-like flowers, underside of leaves.
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This photo shows the shrub's general shape growing wild in the chaparral. Note the Blue-gray gnatcatcher flying out of it.
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Mission Manzanita Sapling.
Read more about this topic: Xylococcus Bicolor
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