Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus purpureus
buck brush, common buckbrush, narrow-leaf buckthorn, sedge-leaf buckthorn, wedgeleaf cuneatus
holly-leaf ceanothus
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, spreading to deflexed;
petiole 0–2 mm;
blade ± cupped, folded lengthwise adaxially, widely elliptic to widely obovate, 12–25 × 7–20 mm, base obtuse to cuneate, margins not revolute, spinose-dentate, teeth 7–15, apex rounded to sharply acute, abaxial surface pale green, sparsely strigillose, especially on veins, adaxial surface green to dark green, glabrous.
axillary or terminal, 0.8–2.5 cm.
axillary, 1.2–2.5 cm.
sepals, petals, and nectary white to lavender or blue.
sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue to purple.
4–6 mm wide, weakly lobed;
valves smooth, horns subapical, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges absent.
4–5 mm wide, lobed;
valves smooth, horns subapical, prominent, slender, erect, intermediate ridges absent.
= 24.
Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus purpureus
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Ceanothus purpureus is endemic to the Vaca Mountains (Napa and Solano counties); it has been confused with C. jepsonii, which differs by its 6–8-merous flowers, rugose capsule horns, prominent ridges between the horns, and distribution on serpentine soils.
(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
