Ceanothus fendleri |
Ceanothus incanus |
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Fendler buckbrush, Fendler's ceanothus |
coast whitethorn |
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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, 1–4 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets light gray, glaucous, thorn-tipped or not, round or slightly angled in cross section, rigid, puberulent, glabrescent. |
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). |
not fascicled; petiole 3–12 mm; blade flat, elliptic, ovate, or suborbiculate, 20–60 × 10–30 mm, base rounded or subcordate, margins entire, sometimes minutely glandular-denticulate above middle, glands 26–52, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, appressed-puberulent, glabrescent, adaxial surface grayish green, dull, glabrate; 3-veined from base. |
Inflorescences | terminal or axillary, usually umbel-like, sometimes racemelike, 1–3.5 cm. |
axillary, usually paniclelike, sometimes racemelike, 3–6 cm. |
Flowers | sepals, petals, and nectary white or pinkish. |
sepals, petals, and nectary usually white to cream, sometimes pink. |
Capsules | 4–6 mm wide, lobed; valves smooth to rugose, viscid, usually not crested, sometimes weakly crested. |
4–5 mm wide, ± lobed; valves rugose, viscid when young, not or weakly crested. |
2n | = 24. |
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Ceanothus fendleri |
Ceanothus incanus |
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Phenology | Flowering Jan–Jul. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky soils, slopes, open sites, chaparral, oak-pine woodlands, conifer forests. | Flats, slopes, chaparral, open sites in conifer and mixed evergreen forests. |
Elevation | 1400–2700 m. (4600–8900 ft.) | 60–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; SD; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
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CA
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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 incanus is restricted to the Klamath and Santa Cruz mountains and North Coast Ranges of California. Some populations are evidently polymorphic for the presence of thorn-tipped or non-thorn-tipped branchlets (F. K. Klein 1970). Putative hybrids with C. papillosus and C. parryi have been reported (H. McMinn 1944); hybrids with C. thyrsiflorus have been called C. ×vanrensselaeri Roof. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 87. | FNA vol. 12, p. 86. |
Parent taxa | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. fendleri var. venosus, C. fendleri var. viridis | |
Name authority | A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 29. (1849) | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 265. (1838) |
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