Arctostaphylos canescens
Common name: 
Hoary Manzanita
Downy-leaf Manzanita
Pronunciation: 
Ericaceae
Family: 
ark-tow-STAF-i-los kah-NES-ens
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Evergreen shrub, erect, 4-6 ft (1.2-1.8 m) tall, densely branched, gnarled; bark smooth, dark rust colored, tomentose when young.  Leaves alternate, simple, ovate to oblong or rounded, projected outward, 2-4 cm long, thick, margin entire, densely white tomentose when young, much less with age, petiole 5-8 mm long.   Flowers in short dense clusters with white tomentose on the main stems (rachis), pale pink corolla (petals), 8-9 mm long, blooms in winter-spring.  Fruit a flattened sphere, brown, 8 mm thick.
  • Sun to light shade, tolerates heat; requires good drainage and acid soils.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 7      Native to coastal Northern California, found on sand or rocky sites.
  • canescens: grayish-hairy.
  • Portland, Oregon: Hoyt Arboretum
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  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • shoot and leaf

    shoot and leaf