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Arctostaphylos glauca

Common name:	Bigberry Manzanita	Family:	Ericaceae
Author:	Lindl.	Botanical references:	11, 71, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-western N. America - S. California.
Habitat:	Dry slopes below 1500 metres[71].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. glauca var. puberula[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Big-berry Manzanita [B], Bigberry Manzanita [L,P,DEN2,FEIS], Manzanita [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	glauca = glaucous;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ericales. Heath family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Mexico

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 4m. It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from April to May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge.

Edible Uses

Drink; Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked[3]. The fruit is used fresh or it can be dried and ground into a powder then used to make mush or added to soups etc[105, 161, 183, 257]. It can also be used to make preserves or a beverage that resembles cider in flavour[183]. A drink is made from the berries by sprinkling them with water, kneading them with the hands, mashing them and then soaking them in the sun for about 12 hours. The liquid is then sieved to remove the pulp before being drunk on its own or with Chia (see Salvia columbiana). Water could be drained through the pulp a second time. The liquid was said to be sweet and fattening[257]. The fruit is dry and with little flavour[2].
The seeds can be dried, ground into a powder and used to make a mush or cakes[257]. The seed is rather small, it would most probably have been used together with the fruit and not have been separated from it[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiseptic; Astringent; Diuretic; Skin.

The dried leaves are used in the treatment of a variety of complaints[4]. These leaves should be harvested in early autumn, only green leaves being selected, and then dried in gentle heat[4]. A tea made from the dried leaves is strongly astringent, diuretic and an antiseptic for the urinary tract[4, 222]. It is much used for kidney and bladder complaints and inflammation of the urinary tract, but it should be used with caution[4, 21, 46, 172] because it contains arbutin which hydrolyzes into the toxic urinary antiseptic hydroquinone[222]. Externally, an infusion is used to treat poison oak rash[257].

Other Uses

Broom; Dye; Fuel; Wood.

A yellowish-brown dye is obtained from the leaves, it does not require a mordant[168].
The branches have been used to make a broom[257].
The wood makes a good fuel, producing a lot of heat and burning for a long time[257].
The wood is hard and tough. It is used for making small tools, awl handles etc[257].

Cultivation details

Requires a deep moist well-drained light or medium lime-free loam in sun or semi-shade[3, 11, 200] but plants produces less fruit when they are grown in the shade[200]. Prefers a warm sunny position[3, 166]. Found on dry soils in the wild, one report says that it succeeds in a hot dry position.
Hardy to between -5 and -10°c, succeeding outdoors in the milder parts of Britain[200].
Plants resent root disturbance and should be placed in their final positions as soon as possible[134].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe. Pre-soak dried seed in boiling water for 10 - 20 seconds or burn some straw on top of them and then stratify at 2 - 5°c for 2 months[11, 200]. The seed usually germinates in 2 - 3 months at 15°c[134]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a greenhouse or cold frame for at least their first winter, Plant out in late spring or early summer.
Cuttings of side shoots of the current season's growth, 5 - 8cm with a heel, August to December in a frame. Takes one year[1, 78].
Division in early spring. Take care because the plant resents root disturbance. Pot the divisions up and keep them in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are growing away actively.
Layering in spring[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for the family Ericaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data for parts of family Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[3] Simmons. A. E. Growing Unusual Fruit. David and Charles 1972 ISBN 0-7153-5531-7
A very readable book with information on about 100 species that can be grown in Britain (some in greenhouses) and details on how to grow and use them.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[71] Munz. A California Flora. University of California Press 1959
An excellent flora but no pictures. Not for the casual reader.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[134] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan. 1988
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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