Carried by 4 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
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Arctostaphylos purissima is a rare species in the Ericaceae (Heath) family known by the common names La Purisima Manzanita or Lompoc Manzanita. It is endemic to a very small portion of western Santa Barbara County, California, near the City of Lompoc, site of Mission La Pursima Concepcion. Due to its limited distribution it is included on CNPS list 1B.1. It is a plant of the coastal chaparral on sandstone soils. This is a shrub reaching at least a meter in height and known to exceed four meters tall. It varies in shape from low and spreading to tall and erect. It is coated in long, white bristles and a dense foliage of shiny, hairless green leaves. Each leaf is round to oval in shape and smooth along the edges, and up to 2.5 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a hanging cluster of spherical to urn-shaped flowers each about half a centimeter long. It has a notably long flowering season. The fruit is a hairless drupe between one half and one centimeter wide. This is one of several Manzanita species that are unique to the central coast and it would make a nice addition to any coastal garden. Horticultural varieties known as 'Vandenberg' and 'Petite Margarita' are available that offer an especially compact shape.
Shrub
3 - 13 ft Tall
3 - 8 ft Wide
Evergreen
White
Winter, Spring
Full Sun
Very Low
Max 1x / month once established
Moderate
Tolerates cold to 10° F
Fast
Sandy.
Soil PH: 5.0 - 7.0
Sandstone outcrops, sandy soils of the coastal plain of the Pt. Conception region
Chaparral
Use with other sand loving, coastal plants such as Sand Verbena (Abronia spp.), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), A
Papayas
Carica papaya