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).

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Flower Colour:
White

Blooming Period:
Early Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall

Source:  The USDA

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Arctostaphylos columbiana subsp. nortensis (P.V. Wells) P.V. Wells
Arctostaphylos columbiana var. tracyi Eastw.
Arctostaphylos tracyi (Eastw.) J.E. Adams ex McMinn