pointleaf manzanita

Arctostaphylos pungens is an erect, spreading, evergreen shrub growing to heights between one and three meters. It has smooth red bark. Its smaller twigs and new leaves are lightly woolly. Mature leaves are leathery, shiny and green, oval to widely lance-shaped, and up to 4 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a spherical cluster of urn-shaped manzanita flowers. The fruit is a drupe 5 to 8 millimeters wide. It is a food source for many kinds of wildlife, and it is harvested by people and made into jam in many parts of Mexico. This shrub thrives in dry, shallow, acidic soils heavy with gravel and sand, and forms relationships with mycorrhizae to obtain extra nutrients and water. The seeds require scarification by wildfire before they are able to germinate.