05/29/2026
🌿 Meet hawwen 🌿
Manzanita 🍎 has a fragrant scent, flowers that taste like green apples, and small red berries that look like little red apples.
These drought-tolerant trees are exclusively found in California and support birds and insects, including monarch butterflies 🦋
The Ohlone use the branches for digging sticks, the berries to make cider, and the leaves to brew tea. The tea and cider are used to help with digestive problems. The leaves are also used for skin problems like rashes and itchiness from poison oak.
With their twisting branches and smooth red bark, hawwen are both beautiful and important for healthy ecosystems. They can help conserve water, create habitat, and support biodiversity! 🐦🐝🌎
Our Concord Center supports all efforts to preserve the Bay Area's nature.
