The Stately Manzanita

I greatly enjoyed the article (“Flora,” Feb. 14) by Doug Smith and the splendid pictures by Lawrence K. Ho of the stately manzanita.

Having lived and worked in the Southern California chaparral all my life, I have come to greatly admire this noble plant.

Most of the manzanitas in our locale show the ravages of fire or drought, as Ho’s photo reveals. Sometimes, you will see a scrag with only a tiny branch of green leaves near the top. Leading from the branch will be a “life-line” threading it’s way down the otherwise dead trunk to the root system below. Occasionally these “life-lines” are smaller than a pencil’s diameter.

HIRAM H. SWALLOW

Newhall