Arctostaphylos Myrtifolia
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''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia'' is a rare species of
manzanita Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus '' Arctostaphylos''. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to O ...
known by the common name Ione manzanita. It is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the
Sierra Nevada foothills :''See Sierra Nevada for general information about the mountain range in the United States.'' The ecology of the Sierra Nevada, located in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, is diverse and complex. The combination of climate, topography, ...
of
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. It grows in the
chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...
and woodland
plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...
on a distinctive acidic soil series, an
oxisol Oxisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest within 25 degrees north and south of the Equator. In the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB), they belong mainly to the ferrals ...
of the
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
-era
Ione Formation Ione may refer to: Places * Ione, California, a city * Ione, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Ione, Nevada, an unincorporated community * Ione, Oregon, a city * Ione, Washington, a town * Ionopolis or Ione, an ancient town near Anti ...
, in western Amador and northern Calaveras counties. There are only eleven occurrences, of which three have not been recorded since 1976. This is a federally listed
threatened species A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...
.


Description

''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia'' is a red-barked, bristly
shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...
reaching just over a meter in maximum height. The small bright green leaves are coated in tiny glandular hairs and are shiny but rough in texture. They are less than 2 centimeters long. The
inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
is a
raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...
of urn-shaped manzanita flowers on bright red branches. The fruit is a cylindrical
drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...
only a few millimeters long.


Conservation

A major threat to this rare endemic plant is a pair of fungal diseases. A branch canker caused by species of ''
Fusicoccum ''Fusicoccum'' is a genus of anamorphic fungi in the family Botryosphaeriaceae The Botryosphaeriaceae are a family of sac fungi (Ascomycetes), which is the type representative of the order Botryosphaeriales. According to a 2008 estimate, the ...
'', including '' F. aesculi'', causes some mortality, and root and crown rot caused by ''
Phytophthora cinnamomi ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'', also known as cinnamon fungus, is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "dieback", "root rot", or (in certain '' Castanea'' species), "ink disease". O ...
'' has destroyed entire stands of the manzanita and prevented its regrowth in patches of infested soil.Swiecki, T. J. and E. A. Bernhardt
Diseases threaten the survival of Ione manzanita (''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia'').
''Phytosphere Research'' March 10, 2003.
These microorganisms, as well as a newly identified one, ''
Phytophthora cambivora ''Phytophthora'' × ''cambivora'' is a plant pathogen that causes ink disease in European chestnut trees ('' Castanea sativa''). Ink disease, also caused by '' Phytophthora cinnamomi'', is thought to have been present in Europe since the 18th c ...
'', are spreading rapidly and may soon reach the entire range of the plant's distribution. Because of this threat, which may lead to the
extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
of the species, the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...
has recommended that it be upgraded from threatened to endangered status.USFWS
''Eriogonum apricum'' and ''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia'' Five year Review.
July 2010.


See also

*
California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...
*
California interior chaparral and woodlands The California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers in an elliptical ring around the California Central Valley. It occurs on hills and mountains ranging from to . It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biom ...


References


External links

* *
Calflora Database: ''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia'' (Ione manzanita)Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia''USDA Plants Profile; ''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia''''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia'' - Photo gallery
myrtifolia Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of Amador County, California Natural history of Calaveras County, California Plants described in 1887 Critically endangered flora of California Ione Formation {{Ericaceae-stub