Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus fendleri

Ceanothus foliosus

Fendler buckbrush, Fendler's ceanothus

wavy leaf 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, 0.3–3.5 m. Stems erect, ascending, arcuate, or prostrate, not rooting at nodes; branchlets green, not thorn-tipped, round or slightly angled in cross section, flexible, villosulous.
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 1–3 mm;

blade flat or ± folded lengthwise, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic or oblanceolate, 5–24 × 3–13 mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins entire or weakly glandular-denticulate most of length, ± thick, not revolute, usually wavy, sometimes not wavy, teeth 31–42, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green to grayish green, villosulous or glabrous and sometimes sparsely puberulent on veins, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous or sparsely puberulent; pinnately veined or faintly 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, umbel-like to racemelike, 1–3.5(–7) cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary white or pinkish.

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to dark blue.
Capsules

4–6 mm wide, lobed;

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

3–4 mm wide, weakly lobed at apex;

valves smooth, not or weakly crested.

Ceanothus fendleri

Ceanothus foliosus
Phenology Flowering Jan–Jul.
Habitat Rocky soils, slopes, open sites, chaparral, oak-pine woodlands, conifer forests.
Elevation 1400–2700 m. (4600–8900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; SD; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[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.)

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces moderately to densely villosulous.
var. medius
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces glabrous or sometimes sparsely puberulent on veins.
→ 2
2. Leaf blades ± folded lengthwise, margins wavy, glandular-denticulate.
var. foliosus
2. Leaf blades flat to ± folded lengthwise, margins not to weakly wavy, entire or weakly denticulate near apex.
var. vineatus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 87. FNA vol. 12, p. 93.
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. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, 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
Subordinate taxa
C. foliosus var. foliosus, C. foliosus var. medius, C. foliosus var. vineatus
Synonyms C. fendleri var. venosus, C. fendleri var. viridis
Name authority A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 29. (1849) Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 172. (1889)
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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