Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus diversifolius

Ceanothus perplexans

pine mat

cupped leaf ceanothus, desert ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.2–0.3(–0.5) m, matlike. Shrubs, 1–2 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown to grayish brown, rigid, glabrate or tomentulose, glabrescent.
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.

not fascicled;

petiole 1–3 mm;

blade flat to ± cupped, elliptic, widely obovate, or suborbiculate, 10–20 × 7–18 mm, base rounded, margins thick, not revolute, usually sharply denticulate, sometimes weakly denticulate to almost entire, teeth 7–15, apex rounded to ± truncate, abaxial surface pale green to yellowish green, puberulent, hairs curly, glabrescent, adaxial surface green to yellowish green, sparsely puberulent, hairs curly, glabrescent.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, 0.7–2 cm.
Flowers

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

sepals and petals white to cream;

nectary yellow to green.
Capsules

4–5 mm wide, weakly lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

4–6 mm wide, usually not, sometimes weakly, lobed;

valves smooth, horns lateral, usually minute, sometimes absent, spreading, intermediate ridges absent.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus diversifolius

Ceanothus perplexans
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering Jan–Apr.
Habitat Well-drained slopes and canyons, open to shaded sites, mixed evergreen and conifer forests. Granitic or metamorphic substrates, rocky slopes, ridges, alluvial fans, chaparral, montane shrublands, pinyon and/or juniper and montane conifer woodlands.
Elevation 700–2300 m. (2300–7500 ft.) 500–1900 m. (1600–6200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[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.)

Ceanothus perplexans occurs in southwestern Arizona, on the desert slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains and Peninsular Ranges of southern California, and in Baja California. Ceanothus specimens from Guadalupe Island, Baja California, with entire or weakly denticulate leaf margins have been referred to either C. crassifolius or C. cuneatus, but in their leaf shape and indumentum they more closely resemble C. perplexans.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 107.
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. 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. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Synonyms C. decumbens C. greggii var. perplexans
Name authority Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 58. (1855) Trelease: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(1,2): 417. (1897)
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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