Distribution of Arctostaphylos columbiana in British Columbia.
(Please note that these maps show a summary of all available distribution
data, and that not all data is vetted. Visit our About the Data page to
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General: Erect or spreading shrub, 1-3 m tall; old branches with purplish-red bark; young twigs and stalks greyish-hairy and usually distinctly bristly with longer, scattered, glandular hairs.
Leaves: Alternate, evergreen, egg- or lance-shaped to elliptic, 2-5 cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide, narrowed at the tip, finely greyish-hairy, especially beneath; stalks about 5 mm long.
Flowers: In terminal clusters, densely hairy, bracts lance-shaped, 5-15 mm long, usually exceeding stalks; corollas urn-shaped, 6-7 mm long, white or pinkish; ovaries hairy.
Fruits: Berries, blackish-red, 6-8 mm wide; nutlets coarsely reticulate-pitted on the back.
Notes: Hybrids often occur between this species and A. uva-ursi, where the two grow together (A. x media Greene).
Ecological Framework for Arctostaphylos columbiana
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2008)
A shade-intolerant. submontane to montane, Pacific North American evergreen shrub. Occurs in maritime summer-dry cool mesothermal climates on very dry to moderately dry, nitrogen-poor soils (Mor humus forms). Occasional in open-canopy, young-seral Douglasfir forests, more frequent in the open and in clearings, on shallow, strongly drained soils on rock outcrops and upper slopes. An oxylophytic species characteristic of moisture-deficient sites.
Source: Indicator Plants of Coastal British Columbia (Indicator Information applies to coastal locations only)
HABITAT/RANGE
Dry open forests and rock outcrops in the lowland and montane zones; infrequent in extreme SW BC; S along the coast to CA.
Invasive Status: Arctostaphylos columbiana is not invasive.
Note:
Species currently listed as "invasive" on the E-Flora BC atlas pages come from
a comprehensive list of invasive and noxious species for BC compiled by E-Flora BC.
Note that a species can be alien to the province but not considered invasive.
Visit E-Flora BC's
list of invasive, alien and noxious species in BC for more details.
MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS PLANT
INFORMATION
Species not indicated as poisonous in our database.
Please cite these pages as: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2009. E-Flora BC:
Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for
Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed:
11/21/2009 12:08:17 AM]
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