Hairy manzanita is a native, evergreen, erect shrub. Hairy manzanita grows in a variety of soil textures and parent materials. Hairy manzanita is an initial or secondary colonizer of disturbed plant communities. It is commonly found in communities which develop after removal of the forest overstory, such as the vine maple-parsley fern community. Hairy manzanita persists through later seres in the understory of open-canopy forest.
Fire activates hairy manzanita seed by scarifying the seedcoat.
Further details were not available. Sites were broadcast burned and planted with Douglas-fir seedlings. No hairy manzanita seedlings were found on transects at postfire year 2, but mean transect cover value of hairy manzanita seedlings was 0.04 percent at postfire year 5. A comparison of hairy manzanita cover on burned versus adjacent unburned plots was made near Oakridge, Oregon. Fire treatment was broadcast burning of slash.