Saturday, May 22, 2010

manzanitas ~ 05/22/10 ~ Fort Ord

manzanita
Arctostaphylos sp.
Ericaceae

If there was one plant that differentiated Fort Ord - BLM Creekside from my other local favorite hiking places, it would be the manzanita shrub. The last picture looks very similar to a previous manzanita posts, but what can I say, I adore the artsy look of the bare bark.

I have not been able to identify these to species, but I am now utilizing the Fort Ord plants list compiled by the CNPS. In fact, the 4 pictures above may very well be 4 different species. Here, with links to CalPhotos and CalFlora, are the species listed for Fort Ord:
~ Santa Cruz Mountains manzanita (A. crustacea ssp. crinita)
~ brittle-leaf manzanita (A. crustacea ssp. crustacea)
~ Hooker's manzanita (A. hookeri ssp. hookeri)
~ Monterey manzanita (A. montereyensis)
~ Pajaro manzanita (A. pajaroensis)
~ sandmat manzanita (A. pumila)
~ shaggy-barked manzanita (A. tomentosa ssp. tomentosa)
Can anyone give me hints as to how to differentiate between these?

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