[Bear Berries, Kinnickinnicks and Manzanitas: The Genus Arctostaphylos in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]
Greenleaf Manzanita, Green-leaf Manzanita, Snowbrush Manzanita
Arctostaphylos patula
Synonyms: Arctostaphylos acutifolia, Arctostaphylos parryana, Arctostaphylos parryana var. pinetorum, Arctostaphylos patula ssp. platyphylla, Arctostaphylos patula var. coalescens, Arctostaphylos platyphylla
- 
- 
Green-leaf manzanita observed atop Grizzly Peak, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.......Ocober 14, 2019.
Characteristics:
Also known as green manzanita, green-leaf manzanita is an attractive spreading
shrub with branching stems from 1-2 meters high arising from a thickened base.
The younger twigs, petioles, and floral bracts are dark with glandular hairs
or occasionally with spreading hairs while the older stems are glabrous and
reddish-tinged. The leaves are elliptic, oblanceolate, obovate or spatulate
in outline and 3-5 cm long and up to 2.5 cm wide. The tip of the blade is rounded
or ends with a minute spine-like tip while the blade surface is bright green
and shiny. The petioles are up to 1.5 cm long.
The flowers are found in dense, short panicles. The glabrous pedicels
are 4-6 mm long while the floral bracts are triangular and 1-2.5 mm long. The
sepals are white with membranous tips and the pink corollas are urn-shaped and
bright pink, measuring up to 6 mm long. The glabrous fruit is is brownish to
blackish and 7-10 mm wide.
Habitat:
Green-leaf manzanita may be found in open conifer forests at moderate elevations
in the mountains.
Range:
Green-leaf manzanita may be found from near Mt. Hood in the northern Oregon
Cascade Mts. south to southern Oregon and east through south-central Oregon
to Colorado and further south through the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada to southern
California.
- 
Mature fruits of green-leaf manzanita observed at left along the Pacific Crest Trail on the south side of Mt. Ashland, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.......October 15, 2019. The photo at right shows green-leaf manzanita in bloom in forest openings along the southern edge of the summit of Grizzly Peak, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.......May 27, 2021.
- 
- 
- 
Geen-leaf manzanita blooming along Forest Road 2901 about 3-4 miles uphill from the junction with Oregon Highway 31, Fremont-Winema National Forest.........April 30, 2017.
- 
- 
Green-leaf manzanita with ripe fruits at Fivemile Lookout, Mount Hood National Forest.......October 15, 2021.
Green-leaf manzanita observed along the Cedar Creek Trail #457 along the steep descent down to Fifteenmile Creek, Mount Hood National Forest......July 8, 2022.
The photo above shows the erect, shrub-like growth, large leaves
and masses of pendant, bell-shaped flowers of green-leaf manzanita as seen on
Winter Rim in the Fremont NF of south-central Oregon.............May 26, 1996.
Paul Slichter