Natural History Wanderings

from Bay Nature

While discouraging potential munchers, the smooth red bark appears to have the opposite effect on humans: It is almost impossible to resist the urge to caress the smooth, cool, silky red bark of a manzanitaas you pass one on the trail.

What a seemingly simple, but deceptively complex question! Ultimately, perhaps, the least speculative—but not completely satisfactory—answer is that manzanitas inherited this trait from their ancestors. There is compelling evidence that manzanitas (genus Arctostaphylos) are derived from a group of trees,

Read more Why is manzanita bark so smooth and red? –