Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus maritimus
buck brush, common buckbrush, narrow-leaf buckthorn, sedge-leaf buckthorn, wedgeleaf cuneatus
maritime ceanothus, San Luis obispo ceanothus
usually prostrate to ascending, rarely erect, sometimes rooting at proximal nodes;
branchlets reddish to grayish brown, rigid, smooth to slightly ridged, tomentulose, glabrescent.
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;
petiole 1–2 mm;
blade flat or cupped, obovate to oblong-obovate, 8–20 × 4–12(–15) mm, base cuneate, margins thick to revolute, usually entire, sometimes denticulate near apex, teeth 3–5, apex acute to rounded, truncate, or retuse, abaxial surface grayish green, tomentulose, adaxial surface green, glabrous.
axillary or terminal, 0.8–2.5 cm.
axillary, 0.8–1.5 cm.
sepals, petals, and nectary white to lavender or blue.
sepals and petals pale to deep blue, sometimes tinged with lavender;
nectary dark purplish green.
4–6 mm wide, weakly lobed;
valves smooth, horns subapical, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges absent.
5–8 mm wide, not to weakly lobed;
valves smooth, horns subapical, minute, erect, intermediate ridges absent.
Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus maritimus
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Ceanothus maritimus is restricted to a small area of coastal bluffs in northern San Luis Obispo County, growing in close proximity to another local endemic, C. hearstiorum (subg. Ceanothus).
(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
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WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
