Jepson Herbarium
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Perennial, shrub, tree.
Stem: bark often peeling distinctively.
Leaf: simple or 0, generally cauline, alternate, opposite ( whorled), evergreen or deciduous, often leathery, petioled or not; stipules 0.
Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, cyme, or flowers 1, terminal or axillary, generally bracted; pedicel often with 2 bractlets.
Flower: generally bisexual, generally radial, bell-shaped, cylindric, or urn-shaped; sepals generally (0)4–5, generally free; petals generally (0)4–5, free or fused; stamens 8–10, free, filaments rarely appendaged, anthers awned or not, dehiscing by pores or slits; nectary generally present at ovary base, generally disk-like; ovary superior or inferior, chambers generally 1–5, placentas axile or parietal, ovules 1–many per chamber, style 1, stigma head- to funnel-like or lobed.
Fruit: capsule, drupe, berry.
Seed: generally many, winged or not.
± 100 genera, 3000 species: generally worldwide except deserts; some cultivated, especially Arbutus, Arctostaphylos, Rhododendron, Vaccinium. [Kron et al. 2002 Bot Rev 68:335–423] Monophyletic only if Empetraceae included, as treated here. Ledum included in Rhododendron. Non-green plants obtain nutrition from green plants through fungal intermediates. —Scientific Editors: Gary D. Wallace, Thomas J. Rosatti.

Key to Ericaceae

Shrub to small tree, prostrate to erect.
Stem: old stems generally ± red, smooth, bark generally thin, peeling, or generally ± gray or red-gray, shredding and rough; burls at base, woody, sprouting after fire, or generally 0; twig hairs 0 or generally ± like those on inflorescence axes, bracts.
Leaf: alternate, evergreen; blade flat to convex, base lobed to wedge-shaped, clasping stem or not, margins generally flat, surfaces with stomata generally both abaxially, adaxially, alike in color, hairiness, less often only or fewer abaxially, generally differing in color, hairiness.
Inflorescence: ± raceme (generally 0–1-branched) or panicle (generally 2–10-branched), terminal, nascent inflorescence present following stem growth, generally late spring through winter, remaining dormant 4–6 months prior to flower (except in Arctostaphylos pringlei subsp. drupacea); branches 0 or raceme-like; flower bracts leaf-like, generally flat, or scale-like, often folded, keeled, tips rounded to acute to awl-shaped.
Flower: radial; sepals 5(4), free, persistent; corolla conic to urn-shaped, lobes in number = sepals, short, rounded, curved back, white to pink; stamens 2 × number of sepals, included, filaments swollen, generally hairy at base, anthers dark red, with 2 curved back dorsal awns; ovary on disk, 4–10-chambered, ovule 1 per chamber.
Fruit: drupe, generally ± depressed-spheric to spheric; flesh generally thick, ± mealy, occasionally 0; stones 2–10, free, fused, or some fused.
± 62 species: North America (especially CA) to C.Am, Eurasia. (Greek: bear berries) [Keeley 1997 Madroño 44:109–111; Parker et al. 2007 Madroño 54:148–155]
Unabridged note: Rosatti (1986 Syst Bot 12:61–77) showed that in Arctostaphylos uva-ursi little to none of the variation in hairs (including length, glandularity) is genetically based.

Erect, 1–4 m.
Stem: old stems gray, bark shredding; twig (and nascent inflorescence axis) short- and long-white-nonglandular-hairy.
Leaf: overlapped; petiole 2–5 mm; blade 1.5–3 cm, 1–2 cm wide, oblong-ovate to - elliptic, dark green, shiny, abaxially gray- tomentose, adaxially glabrous, base ± truncate to ± cordate, tip abruptly soft-pointed, margin entire, cupped; stomata abaxial.
Inflorescence: panicle, 2–5-branched; nascent inflorescence pendent, bell-shaped, axis 0.5–0.8 cm, > 1 mm wide; bracts 5–8 mm, leaf-like, lance- linear, acuminate, puberulent; pedicel 4–6 mm, glabrous or nonglandular-hairy.
Flower: ovary densely ( fruit sparsely) white-nonglandular-hairy.
Fruit: 7–10 mm wide, depressed-spheric; stones free.
2n=26. Stabilized sand dunes, sandstones, chaparral; < 200 m. s Central Coast (s Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo Co.).

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Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].

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Bioregions in which taxon occurs	Red area (if present) is the part of the bioregion lying between the upper and lower elevation limits of the taxon; markers link to CCH specimen records. If the markers are obscured, reload the page [or change window size and reload]. Yellow markers indicate records that may have georeferencing or identification issues.
Chart based on elevation range in Manual and elevations and coordinates of CCH records. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. Note: About half of the CCH records include both elevation and coordinates.	Map made in collaboration with Scott Loarie. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. View all CCH records   CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa. Blue line denotes Manual flowering time.