Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus diversifolius

Ceanothus oliganthus

pine mat

hairy ceanothus, jimbrush (var. sorediatus)
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.2–0.3(–0.5) m, matlike. Shrubs, sometimes arborescent, evergreen, 2–3(–6) m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets reddish brown or brown, usually not, sometimes weakly, thorn-tipped, usually round, sometimes ± angled in cross section, flexible to rigid, glabrous, puberulent, or villosulous.
Stems

spreading, sometimes rooting at nodes;

branchlets green, sometimes tinged red, not thorn-tipped, usually round, sometimes angled, in cross section, flexible, puberulent.

Leaves

petiole 3–11 mm;

blade flat, elliptic to widely ovate, 12–45 × 6–20 mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins serrulate to denticulate, not revolute, usually not wavy, sometimes wavy, teeth 27–42, apex ± obtuse to rounded, abaxial surface pale green, pilosulous, adaxial surface green, pilosulous; usually pinnately veined, rarely 3-veined from base.

petiole 3–8 mm;

blade flat, ovate to widely elliptic, 8–35 × 4–25 mm, base obtuse to subcordate, margins denticulate most of length, not revolute, teeth 19–71, apex obtuse, rounded, or acute, abaxial surface usually pale green, sometimes gray-green, sometimes glaucous, glabrate to hirtellous, adaxial surface dark green, villosulous, especially on the veins, or glabrate; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

axillary, umbel-like to racemelike, 1.3–4 cm.

axillary, racemelike, 1.5–5.2 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary usually blue to pale blue, rarely white.

sepals, petals, and nectary usually pale to deep blue or purplish blue, rarely white.
Capsules

4–5 mm wide, weakly lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

4–7 mm wide, lobed, ± depressed at apex;

valves smooth or rugose, viscid, crested or not.

Ceanothus diversifolius

Ceanothus oliganthus
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Well-drained slopes and canyons, open to shaded sites, mixed evergreen and conifer forests.
Elevation 700–2300 m. (2300–7500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus diversifolius occurs in the North Coast Ranges and the western slopes of the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada; it often forms mats to two meters wide. Marginal teeth on young leaves are notable in having more or less persistent, narrowly conic glands, not seen elsewhere in Ceanothus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn (1942) treated var. oliganthus and var. sorediatus as species, although they and R. F. Hoover (1970) discussed intergradation between the two forms throughout part of their distribution, especially in the southern Coast Ranges and Transverse Ranges of California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Ovaries and nectaries pilosulous; capsules glabrescent, valves rugose, weakly crested dorsally.
var. orcuttii
1. Ovaries and nectaries glabrous; capsules glabrous, valves smooth, crested or not.
→ 2
2. Branchlets puberulent to villosulous; leaf blade adaxial surfaces usually villosulous, sometimes glabrate; capsule valves usually crested, sometimes not.
var. oliganthus
2. Branchlets glabrous to sparsely puberulent; leaf blade adaxial surfaces sparsely villosulous to glabrate; capsule valves usually not, sometimes weakly, crested.
var. sorediatus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 88.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus
Sibling taxa
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, 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. jepsonii, C. lemmonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, 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. oliganthus var. oliganthus, C. oliganthus var. orcuttii, C. oliganthus var. sorediatus
Synonyms C. decumbens
Name authority Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 58. (1855) Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 266. (1838)
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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