''Comarostaphylis arbutoides'' is a species of shrub in the

heath family The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

. Its range extends from central

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

south to Guatemala, Honduras,

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

, Costa Rica, and western

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. It is found in oak and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

forests in mountainous locations, and on the summits of Central American volcanoes, at elevations from . There are two subspecies: ''arbutoides'', distinguished by the presence of a rust-colored tomentum on the leaf underside, and ''costaricensis'' which lacks the tomentum.

References

Arbutoideae Flora of Central America Flora of Mexico Plants described in 1843 Cloud forest flora of Mexico Flora of the Talamancan montane forests {{Ericaceae-stub