Nissenan Manzanita

Description

Arctostaphylos nissenana is a species of manzanita known by the common name Nissenan manzanita. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the woodlands and chaparral of the Sierra Nevada foothills, mostly in El Dorado County.This is a shrub reaching a maximum height between one half and 1.5 meters, with gray bark and fuzzy twigs. The leaves are grayish in color, smooth or fuzzy, oval in shape and 1 to 2 centimeters long. It blooms in plentiful small clusters of urn-shaped manzanita flowers, each with five lobes at its mouth. The fruit is a cylindrical drupe a few centimeters long containing five seeds.