ERICACEAE

HEATH FAMILY

Gary D. Wallace, except as specified

Perennial, shrub, tree
Stem: bark often peeling distinctively
Leaves simple, generally cauline, alternate, opposite, rarely whorled, evergreen or deciduous, often leathery, petioled or not; stipules 0
Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, cyme, or flowers solitary, generally bracted; pedicels often with 2 bractlets
Flower generally bisexual, generally radial; sepals generally 4–5, generally free; petals generally 4–5, free or fused; stamens 8–10, free, filaments rarely appendaged, anthers awned or not, dehiscent by pores or slits; nectary generally at ovary base, 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
Seeds generally many, sometimes winged
Genera in family: ± 100 genera, 3000 species: generally worldwide except deserts; some cultivated, especially Arbutus, Arctostaphylos, Rhododendron, Vaccinium
Reference: [Wallace 1975 Wasmann J Biol 33:1–88; 1975 Bot Not 128:286–298]
Subfamilies Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Vaccinioideae sometimes treated as families. Nongreen plants obtain nutrition from green plants through fungal intermediates.

ARCTOSTAPHYLOS

MANZANITA

Philip V. Wells

Shrubs, small trees
Stem prostrate to erect; fire-resistant burl sometimes present at base; bark generally reddish, smooth or gray, rough, and shredded; hairs generally alike on twig, inflorescence axis, bract
Leaves alternate, spreading to ascending, evergreen; blade surfaces generally alike, sometimes convex, differing in color (stomata restricted to lower surface) or hairiness; margin flat to rolled
Inflorescence: raceme or panicle-like, terminal; branches raceme-like; flowers bracted; bracts leaf-like, generally flat or scale-like, generally folded, keeled; immature inflorescence present late summer through winter
Flower radial; sepals generally 5, free, persistent; corolla generally 5-lobed, urn-shaped to ± spheric, white to pink; stamens generally 10, included, filament base glabrous or hairy, anther 2-pored, awns 2, recurved; ovary superior, base surrounded by nectary disk, chambers 2–10, ovule 1 per chamber, style 1, stigma head-like
Fruit: drupe, berry-like, generally ± spheric; pulp generally thick, mealy; stones 2–10, free, separable, or strongly fused
Species in genus: ± 60 species: North America (especially CA) to C.Am, Eurasia
Etymology: (Greek: bear berries)
Reference: [Wells 1988 Madroño 35:330–341]
Observation of hairs requires 10X magnification. Distribution of many species local; hybridization occurs in areas of overlap
Horticultural information: Beautiful but mostly DFCLT due to fungus and often salinity and alkali. Avoid overhead watering in hot weather. CVS are the easier garden subjects.

Native

A. uva-ursi (L.) Spreng.

BEARBERRY

Shrub, mat-like, rarely mound-like, < 0.5 m; burl generally 0
Stem prostrate to decumbent; bark ± rough; twigs finely tomentose, becoming glabrous, or finely glandular-bristly
Leaves spreading; petiole 2–4 mm; blade 1–2.5 cm, 0.5–1.5 cm wide, generally oblanceolate to obovate, base wedge-shaped, tip generally rounded or obtuse, margin cupped or ± rolled, entire, surfaces not alike, upper convex, dark green, shiny, lower lighter green, sparsely puberulent, becoming glabrous, smooth
Inflorescence spheric, dense; raceme or 1-branched; bracts ± appressed, 2–6 mm, scale-like, narrowly deltate, narrowly acuminate; pedicel 2–4 mm, glabrous, rarely glandular; immature axis 3–10 mm, slender
Flower: ovary glabrous
Fruit 6–12 mm wide, glabrous, bright red
Chromosomes: 2n=26,39,52,65,78
Ecology: Rocky outcrops, slopes, sandy soils, chaparral, coniferous forest
Elevation: generally < 100 m (2400–3200 m in c SNH).
Bioregional distribution: North Coast, c High Sierra Nevada (above Convict Lake, Mono Co.), Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area
Distribution outside California: to Alaska, ne US, Rocky Mtns, Eurasia
Many taxa recognized at and below subsp. level including: forma adenotricha (Fernald & J.F. Macbr.) P. Wells (twigs, inflorescence axis finely glandular-bristly; c SNH); forma coactilis (Fernald & Macbr.) P. Wells (twigs, inflorescence axis finely tomentose; NCo, CCo, SnFrB). Some hybrids with A. glandulosa from SnFrB generally have small burls and have been called A. X pacifica Roof
Horticultural information: DRN, SUN: 4, 5, 6 &IRR: 1, 15, 16, 17, 24 &afternoonSHD: 7, 14, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23; CVS.