[2][3] Its common names comes from populations on the La Panza Range, near the town of Santa Margarita.

[2] The plant is endemic San Luis Obispo County, found in three areas: the La Panza Range, the east slope of the Santa Lucia Mountains near Atascadero, and in the San Luis Range near Pismo Beach.

[2] It grows in chaparral and closed-cone pine forest habitatss, on shale and sandstone outcrops and slopes.

[2][3] Arctostaphylos pilosula is an erect and bristly shrub growing 1–5 metres (3.3–16.4 ft) in height.

[3] The shrub blooms in spherical white inflorescences of cone-shaped and downward facing "manzanita" flowers, each just under 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long.