Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus crassifolius

Lemmon's ceanothus

hoary-leaf 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, 1.5–4 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets grayish brown to brown, ± flexible to rigid, tomentulose, hairs straight.
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;

petiole 2–6 mm;

blade flat to ± cupped, elliptic to widely elliptic, 12–25(–30) × 8–15(–23) mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins thick or revolute, entire to denticulate most of length, teeth 8–19, apex obtuse to rounded, abaxial surface pale green to white, tomentulose to glabrate, adaxial surface green, sparsely tomentulose, hairs straight, glabrescent.
Inflorescences

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

axillary or terminal, 1–2 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals and petals white;

nectary blue to black.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

5–9 mm wide, sometimes weakly lobed at apex;

valves viscid, smooth, horns lateral, prominent, erect, intermediate ridges absent.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus crassifolius
Phenology Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces densely tomentulose, veins obscured, margins denticulate and revolute.
var. crassifolius
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces sparsely tomentulose to glabrate, veins evident, margins entire to weakly denticulate, thick to weakly revolute.
var. planus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 98.
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. confusus, C. cordulatus, 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
Subordinate taxa
C. crassifolius var. crassifolius, C. crassifolius var. planus
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) Torrey: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 75. (1857)
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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