Ceanothus cyaneus |
Ceanothus confusus |
|
---|---|---|
lakeside ceanothus, San Diego buckbrush |
Rincon Ridge ceanothus |
|
Habit | Shrubs, evergreen, 2–5 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets light green, not thorn-tipped, angled in cross section, flexible, often tuberculate (tubercles minute, brownish), puberulent, glabrescent. | Shrubs, 0.1–0.6 m, matlike to moundlike. |
Stems | prostrate, spreading, or weakly ascending, often rooting at proximal nodes; branchlets brown to reddish brown, ± rigid, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
|
Leaves | petiole 2–6 mm; blade flat, ovate-elliptic, 20–50 × 15–20 mm, base rounded, margins usually denticulate to serrulate, rarely entire, not revolute, teeth 23–58, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, veins puberulent, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous or sparsely puberulent; 3-veined from base. |
not fascicled, not crowded, shorter than internodes; petiole 0–2 mm; blade flat to ± cupped, elliptic to ± oblong or obovate, 10–20 × 5–14 mm, base obtuse to cuneate, margins thick or slightly revolute, slightly wavy, sharply dentate to spinose-dentate, teeth 3–9, apex acute or retuse, with an apical tooth, abaxial surface grayish green, strigillose on veins, adaxial surface green, dull, glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, paniclelike, 15–30(–40) cm. |
axillary, 1.5–3 cm. |
Flowers | sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue. |
sepals, petals, and nectary blue, lavender, or purple. |
Capsules | 3–5 mm wide, deeply lobed; valves smooth, weakly crested. |
4–6 mm wide, lobed; valves smooth, crested, horns subapical, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges weakly developed. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Ceanothus cyaneus |
Ceanothus confusus |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Feb–May. |
Habitat | Rocky or gravelly slopes, chaparral. | Rocky soils apparently derived from serpentine or volcanic substrates, chaparral, oak and pine woodlands, conifer forests. |
Elevation | 40–600 m. (100–2000 ft.) | 70–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
CA |
Discussion | Ceanothus cyaneus is known in the flora area only from San Diego County, and is threatened throughout its range. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Ceanothus confusus is weakly defined and perhaps best treated as a part of C. divergens (L. Abrams and R. S. Ferris 1923–1960, vol. 3). At least some populations in the Hood Mountains (Napa and Sonoma counties) include plants with the habit and leaf morphology of both species, while other, more uniform populations appear intermediate; it remains to be determined whether this pattern is a product of primary or secondary intergradation. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 90. | FNA vol. 12, p. 104. |
Parent taxa | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 16: 361. (1927) | J. T. Howell: Leafl. W. Bot. 2: 160. (1939) |
Web links |