Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus cordulatus

Ceanothus martini

mountain whitethorn, snow bush, whitethorn ceanothus

Utah Mountain lilac
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1.5 m. Shrubs, deciduous, 0.5–1 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, ascending, or spreading, not rooting at nodes;

branchlets green to grayish green or brown, not thorn-tipped, glaucous, round in cross section, flexible or ± rigid, strigillose.
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.

not fascicled;

petiole (1–)3–7 mm;

blade flat, widely elliptic to suborbiculate, 12–30 × 8–20 mm, base rounded or ± cuneate, margins entire or serrulate distal to middle, not revolute, teeth 23–41, apex obtuse or rounded, abaxial surface pale green, glabrous or veins puberulent, adaxial surface green, slightly shiny, glabrous, veins strigillose; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, umbel-like or racemelike, 1.5–4 cm.
Flowers

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

sepals and petals white;

nectary pale yellow to yellow-green.
Capsules

3.5–5 mm wide, lobed;

valves rugose, viscid when young, weakly crested.

4–5 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth or ± rugulose, crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus cordulatus

Ceanothus martini
Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Rocky ridges and slopes, chaparral, conifer and mixed evergreen forests. Rocky soils, shrublands, pine-oak and pinyon pine-juniper woodlands, open sites in conifer forests.
Elevation 400–3400 m. [1300–11200 ft.] 1800–3200 m. [5900–10500 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NV; UT; WY
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.)

Leaves of Ceanothus martini are similar to those of C. ×lorenzenii and small-leaved forms of C. velutinus, with which it has sometimes been confused.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 87. FNA vol. 12, p. 84.
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. leucodermis, C. maritimus, 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
Synonyms C. utahensis
Name authority Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 124, fig. 39. (1863) M. E. Jones: Contr. W. Bot. 8: 41. (1898)
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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