Ceanothus incanus |
Ceanothus jepsonii |
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coast whitethorn |
Jepson ceanothus, Jepson's ceanothus, musk brush |
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Habit | 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. | Shrubs, 0.5–1.5 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets reddish to grayish brown, rigid, puberulent, glabrescent. | ||||
Leaves | 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. |
not fascicled, deflexed; petiole 0–2 mm; blade ± cupped, slightly folded lengthwise adaxially, elliptic to ± oblong, 10–20 × 5–13 mm, base rounded, margins thick or slightly revolute, spinose-dentate, teeth 7–11, apex rounded or sharply acute, abaxial surface pale yellowish green, glabrous, adaxial surface pale green, glabrous. |
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Inflorescences | axillary, usually paniclelike, sometimes racemelike, 3–6 cm. |
axillary or terminal, 1–2 cm. |
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Flowers | sepals, petals, and nectary usually white to cream, sometimes pink. |
sepals and petals (5–)6(–8), usually blue to lavender or white, rarely pink; nectary blue; stamens (5–)6(–8). |
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Capsules | 4–5 mm wide, ± lobed; valves rugose, viscid when young, not or weakly crested. |
5–7 mm wide, lobed; valves rugose, horns subapical, prominent, thick, erect, rugose, intermediate ridges present. |
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2n | = 24. |
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Ceanothus incanus |
Ceanothus jepsonii |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | |||||
Habitat | Flats, slopes, chaparral, open sites in conifer and mixed evergreen forests. | |||||
Elevation | 60–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
CA
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CA
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Discussion | 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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Ceanothus jepsonii, composed of two, allopatric varieties, is the only species with mostly six (rarely eight) sepals and petals, and cymules reduced to solitary flowers (M. A. Nobs 1963). T. M. Hardig et al. (2000) provided evidence showing that the two varieties may not form a monophyletic group. H. McMinn (1942) and Nobs (1963) reported putative hybrids with C. cuneatus and C. prostratus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 86. | FNA vol. 12, p. 106. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 265. (1838) | Greene: Man. Bot. San Francisco, 78. (1894) | ||||
Web links |