Nissenan manzanita facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nissenan manzanita |
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A. nissenana
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| Arctostaphylos nissenana Merriam
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The Nissenan manzanita (scientific name: Arctostaphylos nissenana) is a special type of manzanita plant. You can only find it growing naturally in California, especially in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It likes to live in forests and chaparral areas, mostly in a place called El Dorado County.
What it Looks Like
The Nissenan manzanita is a shrub, which is like a bushy plant. It usually grows to be about 0.5 to 1.5 meters tall. That's roughly from your waist to a bit taller than you! This plant has gray bark and its small branches, called twigs, feel a bit fuzzy.
Its leaves are a grayish color. They can be smooth or fuzzy, and they are shaped like an oval. Each leaf is about 1 to 2 centimeters long, which is about the size of your fingernail.
Flowers and Fruit
When the Nissenan manzanita blooms, it produces many small groups of flowers. These flowers are shaped like tiny urns, which are like small vases. Each flower has five small parts, called lobes, around its opening.
After the flowers, the plant grows fruit. The fruit is shaped like a cylinder and is a few centimeters long. Inside each fruit, there are five seeds. This type of fruit is called a drupe, which means it has a hard pit or stone inside, like a cherry or a peach.
