Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus fendleri

Ceanothus arboreus

Fendler buckbrush, Fendler's ceanothus

feltleaf ceanothus, island ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1.5 m. Stems erect, ascending, or spreading, rooting at proximal nodes; branchlets green to grayish green, thorn-tipped, round in cross section, rigid, canescent, often glaucous. Shrubs, sometimes arborescent, evergreen, 2–7 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown, not thorn-tipped, round or slightly angled in cross section, flexible, tomentulose.
Leaves

petiole 1–4 mm;

blade flat, elliptic, ovate, or orbiculate, 8–25(–30) × 3–8(–14) mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins usually entire, rarely serrulate near apex, teeth 3–7, apex obtuse to rounded, abaxial surface pale green or grayish green and glaucous, appressed-villosulous to tomentulose, especially along veins, adaxial surface dark green, dull, appressed-villosulous or glabrous; 3-veined from base (lateral veins sometimes obscure).

petiole 8–25 mm;

blade not aromatic, flat to cupped, widely ovate to elliptic, 25–80 × 20–40 mm, herbaceous, not resinous, base rounded, margins serrulate, teeth (35–)40–65, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, usually densely tomentulose, rarely glabrate, adaxial surface green, dull, glabrous or sparsely puberulent; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

terminal or axillary, usually umbel-like, sometimes racemelike, 1–3.5 cm.

axillary or terminal, paniclelike, conic, 5–12 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary white or pinkish.

sepals and petals pale blue to blue;

nectary blue to dark blue.
Capsules

4–6 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth to rugose, viscid, usually not crested, sometimes weakly crested.

6–8 mm wide, ± lobed;

valves rugose, ± viscid, weakly crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus fendleri

Ceanothus arboreus
Phenology Flowering Jan–Jul. Flowering Feb–May.
Habitat Rocky soils, slopes, open sites, chaparral, oak-pine woodlands, conifer forests. Rocky slopes, ridges, chaparral, oak woodlands, closed-cone pine woodlands.
Elevation 1400–2700 m. (4600–8900 ft.) 60–600 m. (200–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; SD; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Plants of Ceanothus fendleri with glabrous leaves found throughout its range have been called var. viridis. The name C. fendleri var. venosus has been applied to plants with widely elliptic, villosulous leaf blades. Such plants are similar to C. buxifolius of northern Mexico (Chihuahua and Sonora), which has glabrous or sparsely puberulent leaf blades and ± persistent glands on denticulate leaf margins. Putative hybrids between C. fendleri and C. herbaceus in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains were named C. ×subsericeus Rydberg.

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

Ceanothus arboreus is restricted to Santa Catalina, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa islands, California, and Guadalupe Island, Baja California. Plants with glabrate leaves on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands have been called C. arboreus var. glaber.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 87. 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. diversifolius, 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. 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. 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
Synonyms C. fendleri var. venosus, C. fendleri var. viridis C. arboreus var. glaber
Name authority A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 29. (1849) Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 144. (1886)
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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