Ceanothus cyaneus |
Ceanothus microphyllus |
|
---|---|---|
lakeside ceanothus, San Diego buckbrush |
littleleaf buckbrush, sandflat 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, deciduous, 0.4–0.7 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets reddish green or yellow-green, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible, usually puberulent, sometimes strigillose. |
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. |
often fascicled; petiole 0.5–1 mm; blade flat, elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or narrowly obovate, 2–10 × 1–6 mm, base cuneate, margins entire or weakly denticulate distally, not wavy, teeth 5–9, apex rounded or obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, puberulent on veins, adaxial surface green, glabrous; pinnately veined or 3-veined from base (venation obscure). |
Inflorescences | terminal, paniclelike, 15–30(–40) cm. |
axillary or terminal, umbel-like or ± racemelike, 1–3 cm. |
Flowers | sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue. |
sepals, petals, and nectary white. |
Capsules | 3–5 mm wide, deeply lobed; valves smooth, weakly crested. |
3–4.5 mm wide, lobed; valves smooth, not crested. |
2n | = 24. |
|
Ceanothus cyaneus |
Ceanothus microphyllus |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky or gravelly slopes, chaparral. | Sandy flats, shrublands, pine-oak woodlands. |
Elevation | 40–600 m. (100–2000 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
AL; FL; GA
|
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.) |
Short-statured plants of Ceanothus microphyllus with ovate-elliptic leaves, evident venation, and racemelike inflorescences have been called C. serpyllifolius (M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn 1942; W. H. Duncan and J. T. Kartesz 1981). Ceanothus serpyllifolius is treated here as part of C. microphyllus, because of continuous variation in leaf size, shape, and inflorescence architecture. Ceanothus serpyllifolius also has been applied to small-leaved, short-statured plants of C. americanus, some of which may be hybrids between that species and C. microphyllus (N. C. Coile 1988). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 90. | FNA vol. 12, p. 83. |
Parent taxa | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. serpyllifolius | |
Name authority | Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 16: 361. (1927) | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 154. (1803) |
Web links |