Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus cordulatus

Ceanothus sanguineus

mountain whitethorn, snow bush, whitethorn ceanothus

Oregon tea tree, red-stem ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1.5 m. Shrubs, deciduous, 1–2.5 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 to ascending, not rooting at nodes;

branchlets greenish to reddish brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible to ± rigid, puberulent, glabrescent.
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 6–25 mm;

blade not aromatic, flat, ovate, ovate-elliptic, or widely elliptic, 25–100 × (17–)20–60 mm, herbaceous, not resinous, base rounded or subcordate, margins serrulate, teeth 50–100+, apex acute to rounded, abaxial surface pale green, glabrous or puberulent, especially on veins, adaxial surface green, dull, glabrate; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, paniclelike, cylindric, 5–12 cm.
Flowers

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

sepals and petals usually white to cream, sometimes pink-tinged;

nectary cream.
Capsules

3.5–5 mm wide, lobed;

valves rugose, viscid when young, weakly crested.

4–5 mm wide, weakly lobed near apex;

valves smooth, usually not crested, sometimes weakly crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus cordulatus

Ceanothus sanguineus
Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Rocky ridges and slopes, chaparral, conifer and mixed evergreen forests. Open areas in forests, clear-cuts, rocky hillsides, slopes, prairies, burns.
Elevation 400–3400 m. [1300–11200 ft.] 0–1400 m. [0–4600 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; MI; MT; OR; WA; BC
[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.)

Putative hybrids between Ceanothus sanguineus and C. velutinus have been reported from British Columbia and Oregon (H. McMinn 1944). The occurrence of C. sanguineus in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Keweenaw County) is a significant disjunction from the nearest locations in western Montana.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 87. FNA vol. 12, p. 83.
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. 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. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Synonyms C. oreganus
Name authority Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 124, fig. 39. (1863) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 167. (1813)
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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