Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus cuneatus

Ceanothus fresnensis

buck brush, common buckbrush, narrow-leaf buckthorn, sedge-leaf buckthorn, wedgeleaf cuneatus

Fresno ceanothus, Fresno mat
Habit Shrubs, 0.5–3.5 m. Stems erect, ascending, or spreading, not rooting at nodes; branchlets grayish brown to brown, rigid or flexible, glabrate, puberulent, or tomentulose, hairs straight. Shrubs, 0.1–0.3 m, matlike.
Stems

prostrate or spreading, rooting at proximal nodes;

branchlets brown to reddish or grayish brown, rigid, tomentulose.
Leaves

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.

not fascicled, sometimes crowded, not obscuring internodes;

petiole 1–2 mm;

blade flat or ± cupped, elliptic to oblanceolate, 4–12 × 3–8 mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins ± thick, not revolute, usually entire, sometimes minutely denticulate near apex, teeth 0–3, apex rounded to retuse, abaxial surface pale green, strigillose, adaxial surface dark green, shiny, puberulent, glabrescent.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, 0.8–2.5 cm.

axillary, 1–2.3 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary white to lavender or blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary usually blue, rarely pale blue.
Capsules

4–6 mm wide, weakly lobed;

valves smooth, horns subapical, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges absent.

4–6 mm wide, weakly lobed;

valves smooth, horns subapical, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges absent.

Ceanothus cuneatus

Ceanothus fresnensis
Phenology Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Granitic soils and outcrops, semishaded sites, conifer forests.
Elevation 400–2200 m. (1300–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).

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

Ceanothus fresnensis occurs infrequently along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, from Nevada County south to Fresno County. Despite its similarity to C. arcuatus, the two species can be separated by differences in life form and intensity of flower color. Ceanothus fresnensis tends to occur in relatively dense forests, whereas C. arcuatus occurs in open, relatively exposed sites, often at higher elevations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
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
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 99. FNA vol. 12, p. 101.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes
Sibling taxa
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
C. cuneatus var. cuneatus, C. cuneatus var. fascicularis, C. cuneatus var. ramulosus, C. cuneatus var. rigidus
Synonyms Rhamnus cuneata
Name authority (Hooker) Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 267. (1838) Dudley ex Abrams: Bot. Gaz. 53: 68. (1912)
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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