HEATH FAMILY 39 



Var. arcana Jepson var. n. Slirub 4 to 7 feet high ; leaves congested at the ends of the 

 short branchlets, the blades elliptic, obtuse, mucronulate, 5 to 9 lines long ; flowers 5 to 8 in close 

 clusters; ovary and berry glabrous. — (Frutex 3-6 ped. altus; ramulus breve, foliis eongestis; 

 foliorum lamina elliptica, obtusa, mucronulata, 5-9 lin. longa.) — Dry rocky slope, 2100 feet: 

 near Placerville (type, Jepson 18,609). 



Eef. — Akctostaphylos nissenana C. H. Merriam, Proe. Biol. Soc. Wash. 31:102, pis. 4, 5 

 (1918), type loc. 2 to 3 mi. n. of Louisville, near top of a low ridge sw. of American Flat, 2300 

 to 2400 feet, Eldorado Co., C. B. Merriam. Var. arcana Jepson. 



8. A. patula Greene. Geeen Manzanita. Widely or diffusely branching shrub 

 3 to 5 (or 8) feet high; peduncles and raehis of inflorescence, and commonly the 

 branchlets, minutely glandular-puberulent and darkish; leaves bright gi'een, gla- 

 brous, the blades typically orbicular or broadly elliptic, mostly rounded at apex, 

 or obscurely acutish, rounded or subcorclate at base, 1 to 1^2 (or 2i/4) inches long; 

 panicle corymbose, very dense ; bracts ovate, abruptly attenuate ; pedicels glabrous, 

 2 to 3 lines long ; sepal tips white-scarious ; corolla deep pink ; berry commonly dark 

 or black when half-grown, when mature globose or commonly depressed, glabrous, 

 often very hard, 4 to 5 lines broad ; nutlets smooth on sides and back, not channeled. 



Open pine woods, 3500 to 9100 feet, or as low as 2500 at the north : high mon- 

 tane Southern California in the San Jacinto, San Bernardino and San Gabriel 

 mountains ; Sierra Nevada from Kern Co. to Siskiyou Co. ; North Coast Ranges 

 from the YoUo Bolly Mts. to the Siskiyou Mts. East to Nevada, north to Oregon. 

 Mar.-June. 



Geog. note. — The belt of Aretostaphylos patula in the Sierra Nevada is to a large degree 

 coincident with that of Pinus pondcrosa, but the Green Manzanita ranges to higher altitudes than 

 the Western Yellow Pine, being often found in open stands of Jeffrey Pine. This manzanita is 

 commonly a dominant and is usually the only species of its genus in the main portion of its belt, 

 although it may be found associated ■\vith Aretostaphylos nevadensis at higher elevations. Through- 

 out its entire distribution it is extremely uniform in aspect, in habit, in hue of leaf and in in- 

 florescence. The dark green foliage of the shrub is a marked feature, as is also the behavior of 

 the root-crown. The panicle is commonly broad, flatfish and compact, and its glandular-puberulent 

 raehis is often dark in color, while the bracts are commonly ovate-attenuate. The berries when 

 three-fourths grown are sometimes rather hard with the nutlets and pulp as if concreted. Con- 

 sidering its wide range it may be said to be the least variable species of tliis genus, as the genus 

 occurs in California. It inhabits mountain slopes, granitic plateaus, and talus drift; it grows on 

 the arid east wall of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County where it is associated with Cercocarpus 

 ledifolius between 7000 and 9000 feet, on the great forested ridges between the forks of the 

 Merced Eiver and on the lava fields of northeastern Shasta County, and it is an important con- 

 stituent of the brushy ridges of Siskiyou County where the seasonal rainfall reaches 40 to 60 

 inches. Since it often occurs in thin stands in the Sierra Nevada and, even more significantly, 

 because its most characteristic region is high above the chaparral belt of the Upper Sonoran, it 

 is not so subject to fire ravage as many other species of the genus. In most of its area there may 

 be two or three feet of snow on the ground when the shrubs are in flower. However, it forms a 

 globose or tuber-like root-crown at or near the surface of the ground which has the capacity to 

 sprout after fire. The shrub also roots by layering of the decumbent lower branches (especially 

 ■when weighted by snow) and tends to spread in circles in this way. 



Locs. — S. Cal. : Tahquitz Peak, San Jacinto Mts. ; Mill Creek, San Bernardino Mts., Jepson 

 5589; divide betw. Bear Valley and Santa Ana Canon, San Bernardino Mts., Parish 19,288; 

 North Baldy, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 143. Sierra Nevada (both west and east slopes) : Green- 

 horn Mts., ace. Peirson; Cottonwood Creek, Inyo Co., Jepson; Lloyd Mdws., upper Kern Biver, 

 Jepson 4891; Garfield Forest, South Pork Kaweah Eiver, Jepson 4664; Whitney Creek, Mt. Whit- 

 ney, Jepson 1100; Millwood, Fresno Co., Jepson 2778; Lake Florence, Jepson; Huntington Lake, 

 E. Ferguson 381 ; Mariposa Grove, Jepson 5659 ; Glacier Pt., Yosemite. Jepson 5645 ; Bald Mt., 

 near Sonera, A. L. Grant 667; Strawberry, Tuolumne Co., A. L. Grant 22; Meyers sta., Eldorado 

 Co., F. B. Herbert; Mt. TaUac, Jepson 8132; Sierraville, Jepson; Pioneer road sta., 2 mi. e. of 

 Bassett sta.. Sierra Co., Jepson 16,852; Walker Plain, Plumas Co., Jepson; Taylorsville, Plumas 

 Co., Jepson 8017; Hot Springs Valley, Lassen Peak. Jepson 12,285; Gold Bun Creek, Susanville, 

 Jepson; Upper Fall Eiver Valley, ne. Shasta Co., Jepson 5775; McCloud, Jepson 5743; Happy 

 Camp Mt., Warner Mts., L. S. Smith 1503. North Coast Ranges: Snow Mt.; South Yollo Bolly, 

 Jepson 14,722; Horse Mt., Humboldt Co., Tracy 8135; Trinity Summit, Jepson 2062; Sisson, 

 Siskiyou Co., Jepson 14,720; Marble Mt., Siskiyou Co., Chandler 1100; Yreka Hills, Butler 586; 

 Weed, Siskiyou Co., Butler 657. 



Eefs. — Arctostaphtlos patula Greene, Pitt. 2:171 (Sept. 28, 1891), "Sierra Nevada from 

 Calaveras Co. southward to Fresno"; Merriam, N. Am. Fauna, 16:157 (1899) ; Jepson, Man. 746 



