Arctostaphylos tomentosa

Arctostaphylos tomentosa is a species of manzanita known by the common name woollyleaf manzanita or woolley manzanita. This shrub is endemic to California. It is a resident of chaparral canyons, foothills, and lower-elevation mountains. One specialized habitat in which A. tomentosa is found is the Monterey Cypress forests at Point Lobos and Del Monte Forest in Monterey County, California.

Description

A small evergreen tree. It grows 2.4 m high and spreads 3 m wide. It is divided into 9 subspecies. The bark is smooth and reddish. The bark is rough and the twigs are hairy. The leaves are hairy. The flowers are white or pink. The fruit are red.

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Fruit Seed Edible Uses: Fruit - raw or cooked. Sweet, dry and mealy. An important food for native tribes, it can also be dried for winter use. When dried and baked into a bread it is relished by the native Indian tribes. If harvested when not quite ripe, it can be used like a tart apple. A cooling sub-acid drink can be made from the fruit. The fruit is about 8 - 10mm in diameter. Seed - ground into a powder and used to make mush, biscuits etc. The seed is very small and would be difficult to separate from the fruit. It would be easier to dry the whole fruit, grind this into a powder and use it in soups etc.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are used to make a cooling drink. The fruit are also eaten when not quite ripe. The fruit can be dried and made into bread.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

Antiseptic Appetizer Astringent Diuretic Stomachic Urinary The dried leaves are used in the treatment of a variety of complaints. These leaves should be harvested in early autumn, only green leaves being selected, and then dried in gentle heat. A tea made from the dried leaves is strongly astringent, diuretic and an antiseptic for the urinary tract. It is much used for kidney and bladder complaints and inflammation of the urinary tract, but it should be used with caution because it contains arbutin which hydrolyzes into the toxic urinary antiseptic hydroquinone. An infusion of the bark powder has been used in the treatment of lung haemorrhages. A cider made from the fruit has been used as an appetizer to create appetite and treat stomach complaints. Although the report does not specify, the cider was probably unfermented.

Distribution

It is a warm temperate plant. It will tolerate temperatures down to -5°C. It suits hardiness zones 8-10.

Where It Grows

Australia, Mexico, North America*, USA,

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe. Pre-soak dried seed in boiling water for 10 - 20 seconds or burn some straw on top of them and then stratify at 2 - 5°c for 2 months. The seed usually germinates in 2 - 3 months at 15°c. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame or greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer. Cuttings of side shoots of the current season's growth, 5 - 8cm with a heel, August to December in a frame. The cuttings are very slow and can take a year to root. Division in early spring. Take care because the plant resents root disturbance. Pot the divisions up and keep them in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are growing away actively. Layering in spring.

Other Uses

Dye Wood A yellowish-brown dye is obtained from the leaves, it does not require a mordant. The wood is used for making fine furniture. Special Uses

Notes

There are about 50 Arctostaphylos species.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Shaggy bark manzanita

References (9)

• Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994)
• Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 39
• Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 177
• Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 70
• Lyle, S., 2006, Discovering fruit and nuts. Land Links. p 77

More from Ericaceae

Arctostaphylos alpina

Alpine bearberry, Black bearberry, Alpine manzanita, Amprick

Arctostaphylos columbiana

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Arctostaphylos glauca

Bigberry manzanita, Great-berried manzanita

Arctostaphylos hookeri

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Arctostaphylos manzanita

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Arctostaphylos nevadensis

Pine-mat manzanita, Dwarf manzanita