About Arctostaphylos obispoensis Eastw.
Arctostaphylos obispoensis is an upright shrub or multi-trunked tree that reaches 1 to 4 meters (3.3 to 13.1 feet) in height. Its small branches and newly grown leaves have a woolly texture. Mature leaves are glaucous gray, hairless, and vary in shape from oblong in the northern part of the species' range to widely lance-shaped in the southern part; they grow up to 4.5 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a dense cluster of white, urn-shaped, downward-facing flowers characteristic of manzanitas. The fruit is a round, waxy red drupe, 9 to 14 millimeters (0.35 to 0.55 inches) in diameter. This plant is endemic to the southern Santa Lucia Mountains in the Central Coast region of California. It occurs primarily in San Luis Obispo County, and its range extends into southern Monterey County. It grows in chaparral and closed-cone pine forest habitats, most often on serpentine soil, at elevations between 60 and 950 meters (200 to 3,120 feet). Arctostaphylos obispoensis is protected within the Cuesta Ridge Botanical Special Interest Area of the Los Padres National Forest, where it grows in the endemic Sargent cypress (Cupressus sargentii) forest. The species is listed on the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants as a rare species that is not currently endangered.
