Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus cuneatus var. fascicularis
buck brush, common buckbrush, narrow-leaf buckthorn, sedge-leaf buckthorn, wedgeleaf cuneatus
Lompoc ceanothus, sand buck brush, sedgeleaf buckbrush
usually both fascicled and not fascicled on same plant, rarely none fascicled;
petiole 1–3 mm;
blade flat to cupped, elliptic, oblanceolate, obovate, or orbiculate, 4–22(–30) × 3–12(–22) mm, base rounded, margins thick, not revolute, entire or denticulate distal to middle, teeth 0–9, apex obtuse, rounded, truncate, or retuse, abaxial surface pale green, glabrate or glabrous, adaxial surface green, glabrous.
blades of non-fascicled leaves flat or cupped, widely oblanceolate to widely obovate, 5–11 × 4–7 mm, length usually less than 2 times width, margins usually entire, rarely 1–3-toothed, apex truncate or retuse; of fascicled leaves ± flat, elliptic to narrowly oblanceolate, 9–15 × 3–6 mm, length usually 2+ times width, apex obtuse to rounded.
axillary or terminal, 0.8–2.5 cm.
sepals, petals, and nectary white to lavender or blue.
sepals, petals, and nectary usually lavender, sometimes pale blue.
4–6 mm wide, weakly lobed;
valves smooth, horns subapical, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges absent.
5–6 mm wide.
= 24.
Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus cuneatus var. fascicularis
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Variety fascicularis is endemic to sandy soils on marine terraces and coastal slopes of western San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. Plants are occasionally found without fascicled leaves, but can be identified by their lavender sepals and petals and capsules with weakly developed horns. Some specimens from south of Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo County, have pale blue flowers and denticulate nodal leaf blades similar to var. rigidus.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blades of fascicled and non-fascicled leaves elliptic to widely oblanceolate, length usually 2+ times width; sepals, petals, and nectaries usually white, sometimes pale blue or pale lavender. | var. cuneatus |
1. Leaf blades of fascicled and non-fascicled leaves widely oblanceolate, widely obovate, or orbiculate, length usually less than 2 times width, or of fascicled leaves elliptic to narrowly oblanceolate (in var. fascicularis); sepals, petals, and nectaries usually lavender to blue, sometimes pale blue, rarely white. | → 2 |
2. Leaf blades of fascicled leaves elliptic to narrowly oblanceolate, 9–15 × 3–6 mm, length usually 2+ times width. | var. fascicularis |
2. Leaf blades of fascicled leaves widely oblanceolate, widely obovate, or orbiculate, 4–15 × 3–12 mm, length less than 2 times width. | → 3 |
3. Leaf blade margins usually entire, rarely 1–4-toothed, apices rounded, truncate, or retuse. | var. ramulosus |
3. Leaf blade margins 5–9-toothed, apices rounded to truncate. | var. rigidus |
CA
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
