Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus cyaneus

Ceanothus jepsonii

lakeside ceanothus, San Diego buckbrush

Jepson ceanothus, Jepson's ceanothus, musk brush
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, 0.5–1.5 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets reddish to grayish brown, rigid, puberulent, glabrescent.
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, deflexed;

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade ± cupped, slightly folded lengthwise adaxially, elliptic to ± oblong, 10–20 × 5–13 mm, base rounded, margins thick or slightly revolute, spinose-dentate, teeth 7–11, apex rounded or sharply acute, abaxial surface pale yellowish green, glabrous, adaxial surface pale green, glabrous.
Inflorescences

terminal, paniclelike, 15–30(–40) cm.

axillary or terminal, 1–2 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue.

sepals and petals (5–)6(–8), usually blue to lavender or white, rarely pink;

nectary blue;

stamens (5–)6(–8).
Capsules

3–5 mm wide, deeply lobed;

valves smooth, weakly crested.

5–7 mm wide, lobed;

valves rugose, horns subapical, prominent, thick, erect, rugose, intermediate ridges present.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus cyaneus

Ceanothus jepsonii
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Rocky or gravelly slopes, chaparral.
Elevation 40–600 m. (100–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Ceanothus jepsonii, composed of two, allopatric varieties, is the only species with mostly six (rarely eight) sepals and petals, and cymules reduced to solitary flowers (M. A. Nobs 1963). T. M. Hardig et al. (2000) provided evidence showing that the two varieties may not form a monophyletic group. H. McMinn (1942) and Nobs (1963) reported putative hybrids with C. cuneatus and C. prostratus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Sepals and petals usually pale blue to lavender, rarely pink or white; capsules globose.
var. jepsonii
1. Sepals and petals white; capsules ± oblong.
var. albiflorus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 90. FNA vol. 12, p. 106.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes
Sibling taxa
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, 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. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, 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. jepsonii var. albiflorus, C. jepsonii var. jepsonii
Name authority Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 16: 361. (1927) Greene: Man. Bot. San Francisco, 78. (1894)
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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