Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus cyaneus

Lemmon's ceanothus

lakeside ceanothus, San Diego buckbrush
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, evergreen, 2–5 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets light green, not thorn-tipped, angled in cross section, flexible, often tuberculate (tubercles minute, brownish), puberulent, glabrescent.
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.

petiole 2–6 mm;

blade flat, ovate-elliptic, 20–50 × 15–20 mm, base rounded, margins usually denticulate to serrulate, rarely entire, not revolute, teeth 23–58, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, veins puberulent, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous or sparsely puberulent; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

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

terminal, paniclelike, 15–30(–40) cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

3–5 mm wide, deeply lobed;

valves smooth, weakly crested.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus cyaneus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Rocky or gravelly slopes, chaparral.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 40–600 m. (100–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[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.)

Ceanothus cyaneus is known in the flora area only from San Diego County, and is threatened throughout its range.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 90.
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. 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. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, 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) Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 16: 361. (1927)
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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