California Designates Official State Shrub

The bigberry manzanita is now California’s official state shrub after the state legislature approved the designation last year. This marks the 33rd official state symbol, a number that has risen dramatically over the past decade.

A Classification Problem

Observers noted that the plant, scientifically known as Arctostaphylos glauca, is frequently taller than typical shrubs. The legislation passed despite this apparent contradiction, relying on a broad definition that allows for “woody-plant-continuum” arrangements rather than strict biological separation.

Historical texts and modern encyclopedias offer conflicting definitions. Theophrastus, writing in the fourth century B.C.E., described a tree as a plant with a single stem and a shrub as a plant with many branches. Wikipedia notes that modern science struggles with this distinction, as trees can sometimes grow in multiple-stemmed forms while appearing shrub-like, and vice versa.

California officials maintain that the designation avoids confusion with the state tree, the redwood. Critics argue that such distinctions are largely semantic, noting that other states have adopted redundant symbols like both an official insect and an official butterfly.

Legislative Skepticism

Legislative analysts questioned the necessity of the bill. A March 2025 memo raised concerns about the growing number of official symbols, asking if the legislature was “adding additional symbols make the designation meaningless.”

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The memo also suggested that passing a law to recognize a shrub was inefficient compared to using a simple resolution. Despite these concerns, the committee and the full legislature voted unanimously to approve the bill, and the Governor signed it into law.

While the manzanita is a native plant found across the western United States, the process highlights a broader trend in state symbolism. California has added 19 official symbols in the last decade alone, compared to 29 in the previous seven decades. The state now lists an official crustacean, fabric, mushroom, and dinosaur, among others.

The designation was authorized by Assembly Bill 581. Legislative staff pointed out that the bigberry manzanita is a suitable candidate for the role, but they questioned the fundamental need for a new symbol when the list is already extensive. The committee asked whether legislation is the most appropriate mechanism to provide recognition to any potential symbol, suggesting that resolutions might suffice. They also inquired at what point adding additional symbols renders the designation meaningless.

The final vote resulted in unanimous approval, with not a single nay cast by the committee or the legislature. The Governor subsequently signed the bill into law, cementing the plant’s status. This action occurred alongside other additions to the roster, such as a new official nut, though legislative staff criticized the inclusion of multiple nuts as potentially lazy.