Ceanothus cyaneus |
Ceanothus velutinus |
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lakeside ceanothus, San Diego buckbrush |
greasewood, mountain balm, snowbrush, snowbrush ceanothus, sticky-laurel, tobacco-brush, varnish-leaf ceanothus |
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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, sometimes arborescent, evergreen, 1–6 m. Stems ascending to erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible or ± 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. |
petiole 9–32 mm; blade aromatic, flat, widely elliptic to ovate-elliptic, (25–)40–80(–130) × (13–)20–55(–60) mm, leathery, resinous, base subcordate to rounded, margins glandular-serrulate, teeth 93–150+, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, velvety puberulent, especially on veins, or glabrous, adaxial surface dark green, shiny, glabrous; 3-veined from base. |
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Inflorescences | terminal, paniclelike, 15–30(–40) cm. |
axillary, paniclelike, 5–12 cm. |
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Flowers | sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue. |
sepals and petals cream; nectary yellow-tinged. |
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Capsules | 3–5 mm wide, deeply lobed; valves smooth, weakly crested. |
3–4 mm wide, lobed at apex; valves smooth or ± rugose, sometimes viscid, weakly crested or not crested. |
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2n | = 24. |
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Ceanothus cyaneus |
Ceanothus velutinus |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | |||||
Habitat | Rocky or gravelly slopes, chaparral. | |||||
Elevation | 40–600 m. (100–2000 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC
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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). A common shrub on mountain slopes, Ceanothus velutinus, which reproduces by both seeds and layering, often forms large colonies, especially following fires or forest clearing. The leaves of C. velutinus are strongly aromatic (often vanilla-scented) when crushed, and the adaxial faces, especially in var. laevigatus, appear varnished. An infusion of leaves of Ceanothus velutinus was used by Native Americans in cleansing and to treat skin inflammations (D. E. Moerman 1998). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 90. | FNA vol. 12, p. 83. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 16: 361. (1927) | Douglas: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 125, plate 45. (1831) | ||||
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