Arctostaphylos nevadensis
Kinnikinnick

Family: Ericaceae (Heath family)

Photo taken near the Wenatchee River 1 mile downstream from the town of Dryden, dry sandy bank near river (10 to 15 meters away)

Flowers:

inflorescence racemose; flowers urn-shaped, pink; ovary glabrous, superior

Fruit:

berry brownish-red, 6 to 8 mm wide

Leaves:

alternate; evergreen, shiny, more or less erect; mucronate to apiculate, obovate or oblanceolate

Plant:

woody perennial; 1 to 2 dm tall, more or less prostrate and forming mats. The leaves were used in traditional smoking mixtures and also as a tobacco substitute.

Habitat:

usually found in mountains on rocky soils and in conifer forests

Distribution of species:

Washington to California in the Cascades, east to the Blue Mountains in Oregon

Distribution of genus:

more or less 60 species: North America to Central America, and in Eurasia