Comarostaphylis diversifolia

Comarostaphylis diversifolia, known by the common names summer holly and California comarostaphylos, is a species of shrub in the heath family.^[1]

Comarostaphylis diversifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Comarostaphylis
Species:	C. diversifolia
Binomial name
Comarostaphylis diversifolia (Parry) Greene

It is native to Southern California and northern Baja California, where it grows in coastal chaparral habitat.

Description

Comarostaphylis diversifolia is an erect shrub which can exceed 4 metres (13 ft) in height. Its bark is gray and shreddy and the tough, evergreen leaves are oval in shape and sometimes toothed.

The inflorescence is a raceme of urn-shaped flowers very similar to those of the related shrubs, the manzanitas. The fruit is a bright red, juicy drupe with a bumpy skin.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies:

• Comarostaphylis diversifolia ssp. diversifolia - native to the coastal hills of Southern California and Baja California.^[2]
• Comarostaphylis diversifolia ssp. planifolia - native to the Channel Islands of California and the Transverse Ranges north of Los Angeles.^[3]

See also

• California chaparral and woodlands
  • California coastal sage and chaparral