Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus fendleri

Ceanothus dentatus

Fendler buckbrush, Fendler's ceanothus

cropleaf ceanothus, dwarf ceanothus, sandscrub 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, evergreen, 0.5–1.5 m. Stems erect, ascending or spreading, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown to reddish brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, rigid, puberulent.
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 1–2 mm;

blade flat to cupped, narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblong or linear, 5–16 × 2–8 mm, base obtuse, margins obscurely glandular-denticulate, strongly revolute, glands 14–36, apex truncate to retuse, abaxial surface pale green, villosulous to strigillose, especially on veins, adaxial surface dark green, strigillose, not glandular papillate; pinnately veined, veins not furrowed.
Inflorescences

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

axillary or terminal, racemelike, 1.5–3 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary white or pinkish.

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue.
Capsules

4–6 mm wide, lobed;

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

2.5–4 mm wide, not lobed to weakly lobed;

valves smooth, crested or not.

Ceanothus fendleri

Ceanothus dentatus
Phenology Flowering Jan–Jul. Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Rocky soils, slopes, open sites, chaparral, oak-pine woodlands, conifer forests. Sandy soils, slopes, flats, maritime chaparral, cypress and pine forests.
Elevation 1400–2700 m. (4600–8900 ft.) 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; SD; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
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[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 dentatus is a narrow endemic, restricted to the Monterey Bay region. Some specimens of this species have been mistaken for C. papillosus. Papillose glands are restricted to leaf blade margins and are absent from adaxial leaf surfaces in C. dentatus, but are evenly distributed over the adaxial leaf surfaces in C. papillosus. Putative hybrids between C. dentatus and C. griseus have been named C. ×lobbianus Hooker (M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn 1942).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 87. FNA vol. 12, p. 92.
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. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, 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. dentatus subsp. floribundus, C. floribundus
Name authority A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 29. (1849) Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 268. (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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