Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus leucodermis
buck brush, common buckbrush, narrow-leaf buckthorn, sedge-leaf buckthorn, wedgeleaf cuneatus
chaparral whitethorn
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.
petiole 3–7 mm;
blade flat, ovate to oblong-elliptic, 5–30 × 3–15 mm, base rounded to subcordate, margins usually entire to minutely glandular-serrulate, rarely serrate, glands 16–20, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface grayish green, glaucous, glabrous, adaxial surface green, ± glaucous, dull, usually glabrous, sometimes appressed villosulous; 3-veined from base.
axillary or terminal, 0.8–2.5 cm.
axillary, usually paniclelike, sometimes racemelike, (3–)5–15 cm.
sepals, petals, and nectary white to lavender or blue.
sepals, petals, and nectary white to blue.
4–6 mm wide, weakly lobed;
valves smooth, horns subapical, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges absent.
3–5 mm wide, lobed;
valves smooth, viscid, not crested.
= 24.
Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus leucodermis
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Ceanothus leucodermis is a common, often dominant species of chaparral in the mountains of central and southern California. This species is notable in producing serrate to serrulate leaves on stump sprouts following fire (M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn 1942). Putative hybrids and advanced generation intermediates with C. oliganthus occur throughout the southern Coast and Transverse ranges of California (McMinn 1944).
(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
