Bill Text: CA AB581 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: State shrub.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2025-10-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 481, Statutes of 2025. [AB581 Detail]

Download: California-2025-AB581-Chaptered.html

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Assembly Bill No. 581

CHAPTER 481

An act to add Section 425.16 to the Government Code, relating to state government.

[ Approved by Governor  October 09, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State  October 09, 2025. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 581, Bennett. State shrub.

Existing law establishes the state flag and the state’s emblems, including, among other things, the golden poppy as the official State Flower, the California redwood as the official state tree, and purple needlegrass as the official State Grass.

This bill would establish the bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) as the official state shrub.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Manzanitas are an iconic native plant species within one of California’s most extensive ecosystems, the chaparral.

(b) With roots in California that date back over a million years, Arctostaphylos glauca is specifically suited for California’s topography. This long-lived shrub features broad-reaching roots that provide watershed protective qualities and aid in preventing soil erosion.

(c) The increase in fire frequency is threatening old-growth stands of Arctostaphylos glauca, where the California grizzly bear once roamed. Recognizing the natural resource and heritage of this shrub species is one part of preservation.

(d) Arctostaphylos glauca, or bigberry manzanita, as it is commonly known, is an extensive and widespread large manzanita, populating chaparral habitats from the coast to the desert with a range from the San Francisco Bay area into the northern State of Baja California, Mexico.

(e) The common name of the genus Arctostaphylos is “manzanita,” which means “little apple” in Spanish. “Arctostaphylos” directly translates to “bear grape” in Greek with the prefix “arktos” meaning “bear” and the suffix “staphylos” translating to “bunch of grapes.” These linguistic connections have ties to California’s heritage.

(f) The fruit of Arctostaphylos glauca has been used by Native American communities as a food source. California’s official state animal, the now-extinct California grizzly bear, also relied upon the fruit as a source of food. The shrub continues to be an important food source for wildlife in the chaparral.

(g) Declaring the Arctostaphylos glauca a state species is one step in spreading awareness of its important role in California’s natural landscape.

SEC. 2.

 Section 425.16 is added to the Government Code, to read:

425.16.

 Bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) is the official state shrub.