Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus confusus

Lemmon's ceanothus

Rincon Ridge ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1 m. Stems ascending to spreading, not rooting at nodes; branchlets pale green to grayish green and glaucous, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible to ± rigid, sparsely villosulous. Shrubs, 0.1–0.6 m, matlike to moundlike.
Stems

prostrate, spreading, or weakly ascending, often rooting at proximal nodes;

branchlets brown to reddish brown, ± rigid, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 2–6 mm;

blade flat, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 13–35 × 6–15 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins serrulate to denticulate most of length, not revolute, not wavy, teeth 34–45, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green to grayish green and glaucous, villosulous, especially on veins, adaxial surface green, strigillose; pinnately veined or weakly 3-veined from base.

not fascicled, not crowded, shorter than internodes;

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade flat to ± cupped, elliptic to ± oblong or obovate, 10–20 × 5–14 mm, base obtuse to cuneate, margins thick or slightly revolute, slightly wavy, sharply dentate to spinose-dentate, teeth 3–9, apex acute or retuse, with an apical tooth, abaxial surface grayish green, strigillose on veins, adaxial surface green, dull, glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, umbel-like to racemelike, 2–6.5 cm.

axillary, 1.5–3 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary blue, lavender, or purple.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

4–6 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth, crested, horns subapical, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges weakly developed.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus confusus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Feb–May.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Rocky soils apparently derived from serpentine or volcanic substrates, chaparral, oak and pine woodlands, conifer forests.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 70–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
Discussion

Ceanothus lemmonii occurs in the inner North Coast Ranges, Klamath Mountains, and the western slope of the Cascade Range and northern Sierra Nevada. H. McMinn (1944) reported putative hybrids with C. foliosus, C. integerrimus, and C. oliganthus var. sorediatus.

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

Ceanothus confusus is weakly defined and perhaps best treated as a part of C. divergens (L. Abrams and R. S. Ferris 1923–1960, vol. 3). At least some populations in the Hood Mountains (Napa and Sonoma counties) include plants with the habit and leaf morphology of both species, while other, more uniform populations appear intermediate; it remains to be determined whether this pattern is a product of primary or secondary intergradation.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 104.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes
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. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, 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. 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
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) J. T. Howell: Leafl. W. Bot. 2: 160. (1939)
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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