Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Arctostaphylos viridissima is a species of manzanita known by the common names whitehair manzanita and McMinn's manzanita. It is endemic to Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands of California. This is a shrub varying in shape and size. It may be a matted bush one meter tall to a spreading treelike form over 4 meters in height. Its stem and branches are covered in peeling red bark and its smaller twigs are woolly and bear long white bristles. The leaves are oval in shape, fuzzy when new and green and shiny when mature, reaching 3.5 centimeters. The flower cluster is a dense cluster of urn-shaped manzanita flowers. The fruit is a fuzzy drupe just over a centimeter wide.

Plant type

Shrub

Size

3 - 13 ft Tall

Dormancy

Evergreen

Calscape icon
Color

White, Pink

Flowering season

Winter, Spring

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Water

Very Low

Soil drainage

Fast

Site type

Shale outcrops,

Plant communities

Chaparral, Closed-cone Pine Forest

Hummingbirds
Birds
Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 35 likely

Confirmed Likely

Acronicta perdita

Aethaloida packardaria

Orange Tortrix Moth

Argyrotaenia franciscana