Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus cordulatus

Ceanothus velutinus

mountain whitethorn, snow bush, whitethorn ceanothus

greasewood, mountain balm, snowbrush, snowbrush ceanothus, sticky-laurel, tobacco-brush, varnish-leaf ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1.5 m. Shrubs, sometimes arborescent, evergreen, 1–6 m.
Stems

ascending to spreading, not rooting at nodes;

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

ascending to erect, not rooting at nodes;

branchlets brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible or ± 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 9–32 mm;

blade aromatic, flat, widely elliptic to ovate-elliptic, (25–)40–80(–130) × (13–)20–55(–60) mm, leathery, resinous, base subcordate to rounded, margins glandular-serrulate, teeth 93–150+, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, velvety puberulent, especially on veins, or glabrous, adaxial surface dark green, shiny, glabrous; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, paniclelike, 5–12 cm.
Flowers

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

sepals and petals cream;

nectary yellow-tinged.
Capsules

3.5–5 mm wide, lobed;

valves rugose, viscid when young, weakly crested.

3–4 mm wide, lobed at apex;

valves smooth or ± rugose, sometimes viscid, weakly crested or not crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus cordulatus

Ceanothus velutinus
Phenology Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Rocky ridges and slopes, chaparral, conifer and mixed evergreen forests.
Elevation 400–3400 m. [1300–11200 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; 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.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

A common shrub on mountain slopes, Ceanothus velutinus, which reproduces by both seeds and layering, often forms large colonies, especially following fires or forest clearing. The leaves of C. velutinus are strongly aromatic (often vanilla-scented) when crushed, and the adaxial faces, especially in var. laevigatus, appear varnished.

An infusion of leaves of Ceanothus velutinus was used by Native Americans in cleansing and to treat skin inflammations (D. E. Moerman 1998).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces velvety puberulent, especially on veins; capsule valves smooth.
var. velutinus
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces glabrous, veins glabrous or sparsely puberulent; capsule valves ± rugose.
var. laevigatus
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. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. verrucosus
Subordinate taxa
C. velutinus var. laevigatus, C. velutinus var. velutinus
Name authority Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 124, fig. 39. (1863) Douglas: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 125, plate 45. (1831)
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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