Arctostaphylos patula
Encyclopedia
Arctostaphylos patula is a species of manzanita
known by the common name greenleaf manzanita. This manzanita is native to western North America where it grows in coniferous forests at moderate to high elevations.
The plentiful flowers are white to pink and urn-shaped, each with five small lobes at the mouth of the corolla, hanging in bunches. The fruits are dark brown drupe
s nearly a centimeter wide, each containing about five hard-coated seeds. Seeds require fire followed by cold conditions to germinate; seeds can remain dormant in soil for hundreds of years.
Greenleaf manzanitas in some areas, but not all, produce lignotuber
s, from which they can reproduce vegetatively
.
.
Arctostaphylos
Arctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprised by the manzanitas and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees.There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen , with small oval...
known by the common name greenleaf manzanita. This manzanita is native to western North America where it grows in coniferous forests at moderate to high elevations.
Description
This shrub reaches between one and two meters in height. It is low to the ground with some of the lower branches rooting in the soil and others extending more outward than upward. The stems are twisting and reddish-brown in color, and shiny due to glandular secretion. The leaves are oval-shaped to nearly round, and flat, shiny, and smooth. They are 6 centimeters long and four wide at maximum.The plentiful flowers are white to pink and urn-shaped, each with five small lobes at the mouth of the corolla, hanging in bunches. The fruits are dark brown drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
s nearly a centimeter wide, each containing about five hard-coated seeds. Seeds require fire followed by cold conditions to germinate; seeds can remain dormant in soil for hundreds of years.
Greenleaf manzanitas in some areas, but not all, produce lignotuber
Lignotuber
A lignotuber is a starchy swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem by fire. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, and a sufficient store of nutrients to support a period of growth in the absence of...
s, from which they can reproduce vegetatively
Vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction is a form of asexual reproduction in plants. It is a process by which new individuals arise without production of seeds or spores...
.
Uses
Some Plateau Indian tribes drank a tea of greenleaf manzanita as a catharticCathartic
In medicine, a cathartic is a substance that accelerates defecation. This is in contrast to a laxative, which is a substance which eases defecation, usually by softening feces. It is possible for a substance to be both a laxative and a cathartic...
.