Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus cordulatus

Ceanothus leucodermis

mountain whitethorn, snow bush, whitethorn ceanothus

chaparral whitethorn
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1.5 m. Shrubs, evergreen, 1.5–4 m.
Stems

ascending to spreading, not rooting at nodes;

branchlets yellowish or grayish green, glaucescent, thorn-tipped, round in cross section, rigid, puberulent, glabrescent.

erect, not rooting at nodes;

branchlets light green or grayish green and glaucous, thorn-tipped, round in cross section, rigid, glabrous.
Leaves

petiole 2–8 mm;

blade flat to cupped, ovate to elliptic, 10–30 × 6–18 mm, base rounded, margins usually entire, sometimes minutely glandular-denticulate distally, glands 18–30, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale grayish green, sparsely puberulent or glabrous, sometimes villosulous along veins, adaxial surface pale green to grayish green, glaucous, dull, glabrate; 3-veined from base.

petiole 3–7 mm;

blade flat, ovate to oblong-elliptic, 5–30 × 3–15 mm, base rounded to subcordate, margins usually entire to minutely glandular-serrulate, rarely serrate, glands 16–20, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface grayish green, glaucous, glabrous, adaxial surface green, ± glaucous, dull, usually glabrous, sometimes appressed villosulous; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

axillary, umbel-like or racemelike, sometimes densely clustered, 1.2–2(–4) cm.

axillary, usually paniclelike, sometimes racemelike, (3–)5–15 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary usually white, rarely pink.

sepals, petals, and nectary white to blue.
Capsules

3.5–5 mm wide, lobed;

valves rugose, viscid when young, weakly crested.

3–5 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth, viscid, not crested.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus cordulatus

Ceanothus leucodermis
Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Rocky ridges and slopes, chaparral, conifer and mixed evergreen forests. Rocky slopes, chaparral, oak woodlands, conifer forests.
Elevation 400–3400 m. [1300–11200 ft.] 200–1800 m. [700–5900 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus cordulatus is one of the most common shrubs in montane chaparral and forests of the Coast Ranges and Cascades of southern Oregon and northern California, southward through the Sierra Nevada, Transverse and Peninsular ranges of California, to the mountains of northern Baja California, and occurs disjunctly in the Charleston Mountains of Nevada.

Putative hybrids between Ceanothus cordulatus and C. velutinus var. velutinus, reported from the Klamath Mountains, the southern Cascade Range, and the Sierra Nevada, have been called C. ×lorenzenii (Jepson) McMinn. A rare intersectional hybrid between C. cordulatus and C. prostratus in the Lake Tahoe basin has been named C. ×serrulatus McMinn. Putative hybrids of C. cordulatus with C. diversifolius and C. integerrimus also have been reported (H. McMinn 1944).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ceanothus leucodermis is a common, often dominant species of chaparral in the mountains of central and southern California. This species is notable in producing serrate to serrulate leaves on stump sprouts following fire (M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn 1942). Putative hybrids and advanced generation intermediates with C. oliganthus occur throughout the southern Coast and Transverse ranges of California (McMinn 1944).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 87. FNA vol. 12, p. 86.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus
Sibling taxa
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, C. lemmonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, C. lemmonii, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Name authority Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 124, fig. 39. (1863) Greene: Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1895: 15. (1895)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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