Big Berry Manzanita, Arctostaphylos glauca

About Big Berry Manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) 28 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Big Berry Manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodland of coastal and inland hills. This is a large shrub to small tree varying in size from 3 to over 20 feet high; it is not burl forming. Individuals growing in desert regions tend to be shorter than those on the coast.

Leaves are light gray-green, somewhat waxy, oval in shape to nearly round, and smooth or toothed along the edges. They are up to 2 inches long and four wide and grow on short petioles about a centimeter long.

The flower cluster holds hanging clusters of narrow urn-shaped white flowers. The edible fruit, the largest of any manzanita, is a round or egg-shaped drupe more or less 1/2 inch (12 to 15 millimeters) wide. It is light red in color and has a thick pulp covered in a tough, sticky coat. The fruit contains three to six nutlets fused into a single mass.

The shrub reproduces by seed and by layering. Seeds require exposure to fire before they can germinate, and seedlings often appear in profusion after a fire. It is a long-lived species, reaching 100 years of age or more, and it does not begin to fruit until it is around 20 years old.

Best to plant Bigberry Manzanitason rocky slopes. In drier parts of its range, this plant does better on north-facing slopes or near creeks or irrigated areas, or in partly shaded spots. Best to always avoid south-facing slopes. Bigberry manzanita will also usually do better if planted near larger rocks, or at least with rocks placed around it. After the first year, direct summer water will often kill this plant.

In its native range, this is one of the easier manzanita species to grow in California. Can still be tough in the driest areas at the edge of its range, particularly in southern California.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

3.3 - 20 ft tall
6 - 20 ft wide

Form

Upright, Upright Columnar

Growth Rate

Moderate, Slow

Dormancy

Evergreen

Fragrance

Slight

Flower Color

White, Pink

Flowering Season

Winter, Spring

Wildlife Supported

Insects (bees, butterflies) and hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers. Other birds are attracted to the fruits.
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 5 confirmed

, 48 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Sulphur Moth Hesperumia sulphurariaHesperumia sulphuraria

Elegant Sphinx Moth Sphinx perelegansSphinx perelegans

Orthosia pacificaOrthosia pacifica

Cochisea sinuariaCochisea sinuaria

Pleromella opterPleromella opter

The Brown Elfin Callophrys augustinusCallophrys augustinus

Ceanothus Silkmoth Hyalophora euryalusHyalophora euryalus

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun

Moisture

Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 28

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 0° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium

Soil Description

Can tolerate heavy soil on slopes but does best in well-drained soil. Tolerates Serpentine Soil,Tolerates Sodic Soil. Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0

Common uses

Hedges, Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Hummingbird Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants

California Juniper (Juniperus californica), Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa), California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), Coffeeberry (Frangula californica), Hollyleaf Redberry (Rhamnus ilicifolia), Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), Quercus spp., Salvia spp.

Maintenance

May be susceptible to leaf galls, but these usually do not cause long-term damage and do not usually require action.

Propagation?

By seed or layering. For propagating by seed: Soak in concentrated H2SO4 for 6 to 15 hours. (USDA Forest Service 1974). For the acid treatment, single nutlets and stone pieces (often without embryos) and entire stones should be treated separately, as they require different amounts of time in acid (Giersback 1937). For all species, an alternate method is fire treatment in fall; this gives germination by spring. More easily propagated from tip cuttings in winter using bottom heat.

Sunset Zones?

7, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Natural Setting

Site Type

Rocky chaparral slopes, well-drained flats of the coast and inland to the Coast Ranges, desert transition, and Joshua Tree Woodland, usually below 4500 feet, with scattered locations in the Central Valley and Sierra foothills.

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 5.3" - 52.5", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 3.18", Coldest Month: 31.9" - 54.5", Hottest Month: 53.1" - 84.5", Humidity: 0.45" - 36.25", Elevation: 24" - 9849"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Big-berry Manzanita, Bigberry Manzanita

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Big Berry Manzanita

Arctostaphylos glauca

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Big Berry ManzanitaArctostaphylos glauca

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Big Berry Manzanita

Arctostaphylos glauca