Santa Margarita manzanita

Arctostaphylos pilosula is an erect and bristly shrub growing 1–5 metres (3.3–16.4 ft) in height. The leaves are a round, oval shape and dull and hairless in texture. They grow up to 3 centimetres (1.2 in) long. The shrub blooms in spherical white inflorescences of cone-shaped and downward facing "manzanita" flowers, each just under 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long. Its bloom period is December to March. The fruit is a reddish-brown drupe about a centimeter wide, that ripen in the summer.

Conservation. The species is listed on the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants as a fairly endangered and vulnerable species.

The plant is endemic San Luis Obispo County, found in three areas: the La Panza Range, the east slope of the Santa Lucia Mountains near Atascadero, and in the San Luis Range near Pismo Beach. It grows in chaparral and closed-cone pine forest habitats, on shale and sandstone outcrops and slopes. It is found at elevations of 30–1,250 metres (98–4,101 ft).