Arctostaphylos (/ˌɑːrktoʊˈstæfɪləs, -lɒs/; from ἄρκτος árktos "bear" and σταφυλή staphulḗ "bunch of grapes") is a genus of plants within the family Ericaceae.V. Thomas Parker, Michael C. Vasey & Jon E. Keeley 2023, Arctostaphylos, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, Revision 12, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=9173, accessed on February 07, 2026. Many plants within the genus Arctostaphylos are also commonly called manzanitas(/ˌmænzəˈniːtəz/) or bearberries. There are 107 taxa within Arctostaphylos, 106 of which are found in the California floristic province. From prostrate shrubs to small erect trees, Arctostaphylos is known for characteristic red bark, urn-shaped flowers and being fire adapted .
Description Stem - Usually red-stemmed, Arctostaphylos can range from completely smooth to grey-shreddy bark. In some species, stems can be found with tomentum, or hairs.
Burls or lignotubers are an enlarged stem base or root crown carrying dormant buds for resprouting post disturbance. About ⅓ of all species are burl formers. Burls are often helpful for identifying specific species.
Leaves - Tending to grow alternately, all Arctostaphylos species are evergreen. A common step to help better identify down to the species level is by examining leaf surfaces. For example, Arctostaphylos tomentosa has stomata only abaxially, while Arctostaphylos glandulosa subsp. glandulosa is bifacial, having similar surfaces on the top and bottom sides of the leaf.
Flowers - A characteristic feature of Arctostaphylos is its urn-like flowers. The corolla is usually composed of five fused petals. These flowers are very common in the clade Arbutoideae.Hileman, L. C., Vasey, M. C., & Thomas, P. V. (2001). Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Arbutoideae (Ericaceae): Implications for the MadreanTethyan Hypothesis. Systematic Botany, 26(1), 131–143. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666660
Fruit - Classified as a drupe, Arctostaphylos fruit is commonly spheric. The seeds found within the mealy mesocarp are often called stones.
Distribution
The majority of Arctostaphylos species can be found within the California floristic province. However one species, A. uva-ursi (common bearberry), is adapted to arctic and subarctic climates and has a circumpolar distribution in northern North America, Asia and Europe.
An unusual association of manzanita occurs on Hood Mountain, in Sonoma County, California, where stands of pygmy forest dominated by Hesperocyparis sargentii are found.
Evolution Arctostaphylos falls within the Arbutoideae subfamily along with Arbutus, Arctous, Comarostaphylis, Ornithostaphylos, and Xylococcus.
Arctostaphylos is the most diverse genus within this clade. The complex permutation of modern flora can be attributed to the change from the Cretaceous to the Tertiary. During the Oligocene geologic uplift and an altering climate restricted a majority of the Arbutoideae to western North America. Post Pleistocene, the growing changes in the edaphos along with climatic shifts and the incredibly unique topography within California, caused dramatic speciation, specifically within the genus Arctostaphylos.
Fossil record One fossil fruit of †Arctostaphylos globula and several fossil fruits of †Arctostaphylos menzelii have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.
Ecology Arctostaphylos can usually can be found on sites with poor soil. Mycorrhizal fungi are a large reason this genus can tolerate low nutrient conditions. Many of California's shrublands experience a high intensity fire regime which habitually burn completely through stands of manzanitas. Many chaparral species have developed certain adaptations to persist post fire.
One way manzanitas persist is through seed banks. Seed banks are characteristic of all species within Arctostaphylos.Crowe, R., & V. Thomas Parker. (2023). The morphological and ecological variation of Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae) fruit: A link between plant ecology and animal foraging behavior. Ecology and Evolution, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9801 Manzanitas have seed that is dispersed in a dormant stage, only germinating post fire due to chemicals found in smoke. Obligate seeders lack a lignotuber/burl and are killed by fire. In contrast, facultative-seeders or burl formers resprout after fire.VERDAGUER, D., & OJEDA, F. (2005). Evolutionary Transition from Resprouter to Seeder Life History in Two Erica (Ericaceae) Species: Insights from Seedling Axillary Buds. Annals of Botany, 95(4), 593–599. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mci061 Most species are obligate seeders, and population survival depends on post-fire recruitment. It is known that rodent caches are crucial to the development of the seed bank.
In Arctostaphylos all species produce flowers with poricidal anthers. Poricidal anthers produce pollen that is dehisced toward the floral opening through an apical pore on the anther, often during a process call buzz pollination.Avery Leigh Russell, Rosana Zenil-Ferguson, Stephen L Buchmann, Diana D Jolles, Ricardo Kriebel, Mario Vallejo-Marín, Widespread evolution of poricidal flowers: a striking example of morphological convergence across flowering plants, Evolution, Volume 80, Issue 1, January 2026, Pages 240–253, In Arctostaphylos, pollination of the unique urn shaped flowers is achieved through sonication or buzz pollination . Buzz pollination is the process when certain bee species contract their indirect flight muscles on flowers extremely fast, these vibrations then release pollen from poricidal anthers and onto the bee's body.
Arctostaphylos species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora glaucella and Coleophora arctostaphyli (which feeds exclusively on A. uva-ursi).
Cultivation Arctostaphylos are used in the horticultural trade across much of California. Prized for being drought tolerant, low maintenance and aesthetically interesting, Arctostaphylos hybrids and cultivars are common across many gardens.
Taxonomy +All recognized taxa of the genus Arctostaphylos as of February 9th 2026 SpeciesCommon nameSpeciesCommon NameA. andersoniiSanta Cruz ManzanitaA. pacifica Pacific ManzanitaA. auriculataMount Diablo ManzanitaA. pajaroensis Pajaro ManzanitaA. australisBaja ManzanitaA. pallidaAlameda ManzanitaA. bakeri subsp. bakeriBaker’s ManzanitaA. parryana subsp. parryanaParry’s ManzanitaA. bakeri subsp. sublaevisThe Cedars ManzanitaA. parryana subsp. deserticaDesert ManzanitaA. bolensisBola ManzanitaA. parryana subsp. tumescensInterior ManzanitaA. canescens subsp. canescensHoary ManzanitaA. patula subsp. patulaGreenleaf ManzanitaA. canescens subsp. sonomensisSonoma Canescent ManzanitaA. patula subsp. gankiniiGankin’s manzanitaA. catalinaeCatalina Island ManzanitaA. pechoensis Pecho ManzanitaA. columbianaColumbia ManzanitaA. peninsularis subsp. peninsularisPeninsula ManzanitaA. confertifoliaSanta Rosa Island ManzanitaA. peninsularis subsp. juarzensisSierra Juarez ManzanitaA. crustacea subsp. crustaceaBrittleleaf ManzanitaA. pilosula Santa Margarita ManzanitaA. crustacea subsp. crinitaCrinite ManzanitaA. pringlei subsp. pringleiPinkbract ManzanitaA. crustacea subsp. eastwoodianaEastwood’s Brittleleaf ManzanitaA. pringlei subsp. drupacea California Pinkbract ManzanitaA. crustacea subsp. roseiRose’s ManzanitaA. pumilaSandmat ManzanitaA. crustacea subsp. insulicolaIsland ManzanitaA. pungens Mexican ManzanitaA. crustacea subsp. subcordataSanta Cruz Island ManzanitaA. purissima subsp. purissimaLa Purisima ManzanitaA. cruzensisArroyo De La Cruz ManzanitaA. purissima subsp. globosa Globose ManzanitaA. densifloraVine Hill ManzanitaA. rainbowensis Rainbow ManzanitaA. edmundsiiLittle Sur ManzanitaA. refugioensis Refugio ManzanitaA. franciscanaFranciscan ManzanitaA. regismontana King’s Mountain ManzanitaA. gabilanensisGabilan ManzanitaA. rudis Sand Mesa ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. glandulosaEastwood’s ManzanitaA. sensitivaCoinleaf ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. adamsiiAdam’s ManzanitaA. silvicola Bonny Doon ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. atumescensPunta Banda ManzanitaA. stanfordiana subsp. stanfordianaStanford’s ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. crassifoliaDel Mar ManzanitaA. stanfordiana subsp. decumbensRincon Ridge Manzanita A. glandulosa subsp. cushingianaCushing’s ManzanitaA. stanfordiana subsp. raicheiRaiche’s ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. erectaPedregoso’s ManzanitaA. tomentosa subsp. tomentosaWoolyleaf ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. gabrielensisSan Gabriel ManzanitaA. tomentosa subsp. bracteosaGlandular Woolyleaf ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. howelliiHowell’s ManzanitaA. tomentosa subsp. daciticolaDacite ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. leucophyllaWhiteleafed ManzanitaA. tomentosa subsp. hebecladaExplorer’s ManzanitaA. glandulosa subsp. mollisTransverse Range ManzanitaA. uva-ursi subsp. uva-ursiBearberry or KinnikinnickA. glaucaBigberry ManzanitaA. uva-ursi subsp. cratericolaGuatemala BearberryA. glutinosaSchreiber’s ManzanitaA. virgata Marin ManzanitaA. hispidulaGasquet ManzanitaA. viridissima White-haired ManzanitaA. hookeri subsp. hearstiorumHearst’s ManzanitaA. viscida subsp. viscidaWhiteleaf ManzanitaA. hookeri subsp. hookeriHooker’s ManzanitaA. viscida subsp. mariposaMariposa ManzanitaA. hooveriHoover ManzanitaA. viscida subsp. pulchellaCoast Whiteleaf ManzanitaA. imbricataSan Bruno Mountain ManzanitaA. incognitaIncognito ManzanitaA. insularisSanta Cruz Island ManzanitaA. klamathenisKlamath ManzanitaA. lucianaSanta Lucia ManzanitaA. malloryiMallory’s ManzanitaA. manzanita subsp. manzanitaCommon ManzanitaA. manzanita subsp. elegansKonocti ManzanitaA. manzanita subsp. glaucescensGlaucous ManzanitaA. manzanita subsp. laevigataContra Costa ManzanitaA. manzanita subsp. roofiiRoof’s ManzanitaA. manzanita subsp. wieslanderiWieslander’s ManzanitaA. mewukka subsp. mewukkaIndian ManzanitaA. mewukka subsp. trueiTrue’s ManzanitaA. montana subsp. montanaMount Tamalpais ManzanitaA. montana subsp. raveniiPresidio ManzanitaA. montaraensisMontara Mountain ManzanitaA. montereyensisMonterey ManzanitaA. moraniiMoran’s ManzanitaA. morroensisMorro ManzanitaA. myrtifoliaIone ManzanitaA. nevadensis subsp. nevadensisPine Mat ManzanitaA. nevadensis subsp. knightiiKnight’s Pine Mat ManzanitaA. nissenanaEl Dorado ManzanitaA. nortensisDel Norte ManzanitaA. nummularia subsp. nummulariaGlossyleaf ManzanitaA. nummularia subsp. mendocinoensisPygmy ManzanitaA. obispoensisBishop ManzanitaA. ohloneanaOhlone ManzanitaA. osoensisOso ManzanitaA. otayensisOtay Manzanita Ranges Subgenus Micrococcus Sect. Micrococcus Species Common name Range Arctostaphylos mendocinoensis Pygmy manzanita Arctostaphylos myrtifolia Ione manzanita California (Amador, Calaveras Counties) Arctostaphylos nissenana Nissenan manzanita California (coastal and inland ranges north of San Francisco Bay) Arctostaphylos nummularia Glossyleaf manzanita California (Mendocino County) Subgenus Arctostaphylos, which has three sections: Sect. Arctostaphylos