Arctostaphylos patula

Arctostaphylos patula
File:Arctostaphylos patula 08399.JPG
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Arctostaphylos
Species:	A. patula
Binomial name
Arctostaphylos patula Greene

Arctostaphylos patula is a species of manzanita known by the common name greenleaf manzanita. This manzanita is native to western North America where it grows in coniferous forests at moderate to high elevations.

Description

This shrub reaches between one and two meters in height. It is low to the ground with some of the lower branches rooting in the soil and others extending more outward than upward. The stems are twisting and reddish-brown in color, and shiny due to glandular secretion. The leaves are oval-shaped to nearly round, and flat, shiny, and smooth. They are 6 centimeters long and four wide at maximum.

The plentiful flowers are white to pink and urn-shaped, each with five small lobes at the mouth of the corolla, hanging in bunches. The fruits are dark brown drupes nearly a centimeter wide, each containing about five hard-coated seeds. Seeds are dispersed by seed-caching mammals and the fruits are consumed and dispersed by medium-to-large mammals such as bears, coyotes, coatis, and foxes. Seeds require fire followed by cold conditions to germinate; seeds can remain dormant in soil for hundreds of years.

Greenleaf manzanitas in some areas, but not all, produce lignotubers, from which they can reproduce vegetatively.

Uses

Some Plateau Indian tribes drank a tea of greenleaf manzanita as a cathartic.

External links

• Jepson Manual Treatment
• USDA Plants Profile
• Ecology