Erect to spreading evergreen shrubs to small trees to 1-10 m tall;  bark peeling or flaking, reddish-brown to brown or gray;  young twigs glabrous and usually glaucous, or tomentulose to tomentose, often red or reddish-purple.  Leaves coriaceous, lanceolate to elliptic or oblong-elliptic, plane or slightly revolute, (1.4-)3.7-15.3 x (0.2-)1.1-5.4 cm, basally tapering to cuneate, apically acute, marginally serrulate to serrate or serrate-dentate, rarely subentire, upper surface glabrous, green and shining, or with slight pubescence and somewhat dull, lower surface glabrous, often very glaucous, or tomentulose to ferruginously tomentose;  petioles 6-19 mm long, glabrous and often glaucous, or tomentulose to tomentose, often red or reddish-purple.  Inflorescences racemose, the racemes clustered, or paniculate, to 3.5-15 cm long, glabrous or tomentulose to tomentose or glancular hirsute, trichomes glandular or not;  floral bracts lanceolate to ovate, navicular to carubate, acuminate, (1.3-)2.5-8.2(-14) x 1.9-3.3 mm, often ciliate;  pedicels 2.5-13 mm long;  bracteoles basal to medial, acicular to lanceolate, (1.1-) 1.6-3.7 mm long, often ciliate.  Flowers:  calyx lobes triangular or ovate-triangular, (1-)1.4-3.1 x 1-2.2 mm, acute to acuminate, glabrous or pubescent, trichomes glandular or not, often ciliate;  corolla cream or white or pink, (4.5-)4.9-8.6 x (3.7-)4.9-6.9 mm, glabrous or with hyaline trichomes, the lobes 0.9-1.7 x (1.4-)1.7-2.3 mm;  stamens 2.5-3.7 mm long;  filaments 2.3-3.3 mm long, villous;  anthers 1-1.8 x 0.7-1 mm, the spurs 0.3-0.8 mm long;  ovary glabrous;  style 2.4-3.7 mm long, glabrous.  Fruit (5-) 6-8 mm in diam., red when immature, dark purple to black at maturity;  seeds 1.9-2.6 x 1.2-1.4 mm, surface reticulate.

    Distribution.  Central Mexico, from Jalisco east to Hidalgo and Veracruz, and south through the mountains of Oaxaca and the central highlands of Chiapas into E Guatemala, in open or disturbed areas or in the understory of mesic montane forests, at 1850-3300 (-3900) m.  Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

    Cultivated:  E (which subspecies is unknown).
 

 Key to Subspecies of Comarostaphylis discolor

1.  Leaves glabrous below; petioles and young twigs glabrous; inflorescences
     glabrous or with glandular trichomes; Jalisco across Mexico to  Guatemala.
     2.  Largest leaves typically 7 cm or more long and 2 cm or more wide;
          inflorescences glabrous or with glandular trichomes; Jalisco across
          Mexico to Guatemala .......................................................  subsp. discolor
     2.  Largest leaves typically 7 cm or less long and 2 cm or less wide,
          often much smaller; inflorescences glabrous; Sierra de Tapalpa,
          Jalisco ......................................................................... subsp. macvaughii
1.  Leaves tomentulose to tomentose below; petioles and young twigs
     tomentulose to tomentose; inflorescences with eglandular or glandular
     trichomes; Michoacán to Jalisco.
     3.  Inflorescences with glandular trichomes; Jalisco .....  subsp. manantlanensis
     3.  Inflorescences tomentulose to tomentose, the trichomes always
          eglandular; Michoacán ....................................................  subsp. rupestris
 

Comarostaphylis discolor (Hooker) Diggs subsp. discolor.  Arbutus discolor Hooker, Icon. Pl.1: pl. 29.  1836.  Arctostaphylos discolor (Hooker) A. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 7: 585.  1839.  Illustrated: Diggs (1995), fig. 5.  Type.  Mexico.  Mexico:  Toluca, April 1834 (bud, fl), Andrieux 262 (lectotype: K, photo, Diggs neg. 6; isotypes, FI, n.v., photo, FI neg. 196 at NY, G-DC, photo, Fernald neg. 9287, P, W).  In the protologue, Hooker (1836) stated that he saw only the specimen figured (pl. 29).  However, the figure and Kew specimen do not seem to be the same branch, and since no material matching the illustration existed, the K specimen (see Diggs (1995), fig. 5) was chosen as the lectotype (Diggs, 1982).

Comarostaphylis arguta Zuccarini, Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Konigl. Bayer. Acad. Wiss.  2: 331.  1837.  [Arbutus arguta Zuccarini ex Schlechtendal, Linnaea 12: 86 of Litteratur-Bericht at end of Vol. 12.  1838.  Since the name was merely cited as a synonym, it was not validly published (Article 34.1, Voss et al., 1983).]  Arctostaphylos arguta (Zuccarini) de Candolle, Prodr. 7: 585.  1839.  Type.  Cultivated in the Royal Botanical Garden, Munich, from seeds collected in Mexico by Karwinski (lectotype, M, photo, Diggs neg. 7).  The lectotype (see Diggs, 1995, fig. 1) was a specimen from Zuccarini's herbarium, annotated Comarostaphylis arguta in Zuccarini's handwriting (Diggs, 1982).

Arctostaphylos nitida Bentham, Pl. hartw. 66.  1840.  Type.  Mexico, "in Montibus  Carmen", Hartweg 483 (lectotype, designated by Diggs (1995), K, photo, Diggs neg. 8; isotype, CGE).

Arbutus salicifolia Sessé & Mociño, Flora mexicana (ed. 1) 122.  1894[?].  Type.  "Habitat in Eremo P. P. Carmelitarum."  A specimen of Comarostaphylis discolor, collected by Sessé et al. (number "1240") and labeled "Arbutus salicifolia," exists at F.  While not definitive, the type description is reasonable for C. discolor subsp. discolor.  The name was placed in synonomy under subsp. discolor pending further investigation.  If edition 2 (Sessé & Mociño, 1894) has priority over edition 1 (Sessé & Mociño, 1891-1897) from page 49 onwards (see McVaugh, 1977), the correct citation for Arbutus salicifolia should be Flora mexicana (ed. 2) 112.  1894.

Arctostaphylos arguta (Zuccarini) A. P. de Candolle var. pyrifolia Donn. Smith  ex Loesener, Bull. Herb. Boissier II, 3: 219.  1903. Comarostaphylis pyrifolia (Donn. Smith ex Loesener) Small, N. Amer. Fl. 29: 91.  1914.  Arctostaphylos pyrifolia (Donn. Smith ex Loesener) Standley & Steyermark, Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 23(3): 138.  1944.  Type.  Guatemala.  Huehuetenango:  Todos los Santos, 1853, Seler 2633 (lectotype, designated by Diggs (1995), GH, photo, Diggs neg. 9; isotype, herbarium unknown (photos, NY(2)).  The holotype, deposited at B, was presumably destroyed.

Comarostaphylis lucida Small, N. Amer. Fl. 29: 89.  1914.  Arctostaphylos lucida  (Small) Standley, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 23: 1095.  1924.  Type.  Mexico.  Orizaba, 1855[1853, fide Camp (1939)], Mueller 191.1503 (holotype, NY, photos, Diggs neg. 10 & NY neg. 9850).  Other sheets at BR, F, K, and LE are numbered Mueller 191 and are possibly isotypes.

    Plants to 10 m tall.  Young twigs and petioles glabrous, often glaucous, frequently red or reddish-purple.  Leaves plane or slightly revolute, upper surface glabrous, green and shining, lower surface glabrous, usually glaucous, sometimes extremely so.  Inflorescences glabrous or if with trichomes, these usually stalked and glandular. Flowers:  corollas glabrous or subglabrous.

    Distribution.  Jalisco to Guatemala, in forest, the "Bosque Mesofilo de Montana' of Rzedowski (1978) as an understory shrub, or open or disturbed sites, at elevations of 2000-3300(-3900) m.  Flowering and fruiting throughout the year, but most commonly Mar-Jun and Jun-Nov, respectively.
 

Comarostaphylis discolor (Hooker) Diggs subsp. macvaughii Diggs, Bull. Torrey  Bot. Club 115: 204.  1988.  Illustration:  Diggs (1965), fig. 7.  Type.  Mexico.  Jalisco:  Mountains 10-11 km N of Tapalca, road to Chiquilistlán, 2300-2350 m, 30-31 Jan 1975 (fl, fr), McVaugh 25967 (holotype, MICH, photo, Diggs neg. 33).

    Erect to trailing or upright shrubs to 1 m tall, some individuals flowering when only aprox. 10 cm tall;  bark gray to brownish-red, peeling and flaking in small pieces;  young twigs glabrous.  Leaves coriaceous, linear to narrowly elliptic to ovate-elliptic, plane to very slightly revolute, 1.4-7(-9.8) x 0.2-2(-2.7) cm, usually at the smaller end of the range of leaf sizer variation, apically acute to acuminate, mucronate, basally cuneate to tapering, margins entire, with a few scattered teeth or marginal callose thickenings or distinctly serrulate, abaxially and adaxially glabrous;  petioles to 3(-5) mm long, glabrous.  Inflorescences racermose or paniculate, to 3.3 cm long, glabrous;  floral bracts, bracteoles, and calyces glabrous, marginally ciliate by eglandular trichomes;  floral bracts carinate to navicular, acute, 1.3-2.5 mm long;  pedicels 4.1-6.6 mm long, glabrous;  bracteoles basal to medial, lanceolate, 1.1-1.7 mm long.  Flowers:  calyx lobes triangular or ovate-triangular, 1-1.7 x 1.1-1.4 mm, acute;  corollas urceolate, 4.5-5 x 3.7-4.5 mm, pink with white lobes;  outer surface glabrous;  lobes 1-1.1 x 1.4-1.8 mm, inner surface with slight pubescence of hyaline hairs;  stamens 2.6-2.8 mm long;  filaments 2.4-2.7 mm long, dilated at base, villous;  anthers ovoid, 1.1-1.3 x 0.7-0.8 mm, the spurs 0.6-0.8 mm long;  style 2.8-3.3 mm long;  ovary glabrous.  Fruit 5-8 mm in diam., black at maturity;  seeds to 2.3 x 1.4 mm.

    Distribution.  Endemic to Mexico, in the mountains near Tapalpa, Jalisco, in pine forest.  Flowering and fruiting in late Jan.
 

Comarostaphylis discolor (Hooker) Diggs subsp. manantlanensis Diggs, Bull. Torrey  Bot. Club 115: 205.  1988.  Illustration:  Diggs (1995), figs. 8 and 9.  Type.  Mexico.  Jalisco:  Mun. Cuautitlán, near crest of Sierra de Manantlán at Las Capillas, 25 km by road SE of Rancho Las Joyas, 2800-2850 m, 1-2 Jun 1986 (fl), Diggs et al. 3767 (holotype, MEXU;  isotypes, BM, CR, DAV, DEK, DUKE, ENCB, F, G, GH, IBUG, ISC, K, Laboratorio Natural Las Joyas, M, MO, NY, SMU, TEX, US, WILLI, WIS (pop. sample of 15 indivs.), XAL).

    Terrestrial, multi-trunked, erect shrubs to 2.5 m tall;  capable of sprouting after fire damage;  bark shredding, dark gray to nearly black;  young twigs ferruginously tomuntulose, the trichomes eglandular, a few individuals with small scattered glandular trichomes, bark on young twigs shedding, orangish underneath.  Leaves clustered near the stem tips, fewer present on the lower branches, coriaceous, narrowly lanceolate to broadly elliptic, to 17.7 x to 5.3 cm, apically acute, basally cuneate to tapering, marginally serrulate, plane or very slightly revolute, upper surface glabrous or sparsely tomentulose when young, lower surface ferruginously tomentulose, sometimes densely so, becoming less so with age, very young leaves sometimes with canescent tomentum;  petioles to 15 mm long, indumentum as on young twigs.  Inflorescences paniculate, to 17 cm long, sometimes with reddish coloration;  rachis, pedicels, bracts, bracteoles, and cayxy lobes glandular hirtellous, the trichomes stalked, swollen-headed and glandular, to ca. 1 mm long;  floral bracts glandular ciliate, bracteoles glandular ciliate.  Flowers:  calyx lobes triangular, to ca. 2 x 1.3-1.5 mm, glandular ciliate, green to pink or red;  corollas 4.5-6 x ca. 3 mm, externally sparsely pubescent by eglandular hyaline trichomes, yellow-cream to white or light green, sometimes tinged with pink or red while in bud.  Fruit red when immature, black at maturity.

    Distribution.  Endemic to Mexico, in the Sierra de Manantlán in SW Jalisco, in Pinus-Quercus-Abies forests, summit forests, thickets, and steep slopes, and is frequently found in areas of recurrent fire, at elevations of 2500-3000 m.   Flowering Jan-Jul;  fruiting Jan -Apr.

Comarostaphylis discolor (Hooker) Diggs subsp. rupestris (Robinson & Seaton) Diggs, Brittonia 38: 345.  1986.  Arctostaphylos rupestris Robinson & Seaton, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 28: 112.  1893.  Comarostaphylis rupestris (Robinson & Seaton) Small, N. Amer. fl. 29: 90.  1914.  Type.  Mexico. Michoacán:  near Patzcuaro, 14 Oct. 1892 (fl), Pringle 4318 (lectotype, GH, photos, Diggs neg. 13 & NY neg. 9763);  isotypes, A, BM, BR, BR-fragment, F, G(2), LE, M, MO, MSC, NY, P, PH, n.v., RSA, UC(2), US(3), W).

Arbutus spinulosa Martens & Galeotti, Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles 9(1): 532.  1842, non Arctostphylos spinulosa Martens & Galeotti.  Type.  Mexico.  Michoacán: N side of Cerro Tancítaro, 1840, Galeotti 1836 (holotype, BR, n.v., photo, MICH neg. 3565; isotypes, L-fragments, P, photo, Diggs neg. 12).

    Distribution.  Endemic to Mexico, restricted to the mountains of Michoacán, as an understory shrub in forests, and also commonly in open, rocky, or disturbed areas, sometimes in full sun, at elevations of 1850-3350 m.  Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.