Common manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita)

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Common manzanita

Habit (mature) · Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

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Common manzanita

Arctostaphylos manzanita

An evergreen California chaparral shrub famous for its smooth, sinuous, red-orange bark and crooked branches — "manzanita" means "little apple" for the small reddish berries. Bright green, broadly ovate leaves stand year-round above the polished trunks, and nodding white-to-pink urn-shaped flowers open from February into April. A dry-slope native of the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills that asks for almost no summer water once established.

Native: CA

Review: Source-backed

Climate fit: narrow (31/100)

Structure

Focal point

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Low water

Mature size

78-300" tall · 96" apart

Hardy in zones

8a-10b

cold to mild winters

Summer heat range

Warm-Extreme

warm to extreme summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.

Native in Illinois

A dry-slope chaparral shrub that is very drought-tolerant once established and resents summer irrigation; the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center notes horticultural selections are often available and that the species is variable, perhaps from hybridization.

Climate notes

Cold hardiness

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Won't grow here

2050

Zone 7b

Plotwright

Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)

Won't grow here

In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.

Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.

Heat tolerance

°C

°F

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Where this plant fits

Suitable across 39 ecoregions — 34 climate-resilient through 2070 · 5 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

Sources & citations

Cite this page

For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.

Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Common manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/common-manzanita

Sources for every fact

Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited — 18 source-backed.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database

Botanical research database

Backs 17 fields

Identity

Summary

Plant type

Light

Moisture

Hardiness

Heat zone