Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus dentatus

Lemmon's ceanothus

cropleaf ceanothus, dwarf ceanothus, sandscrub 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, evergreen, 0.5–1.5 m. Stems erect, ascending or spreading, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown to reddish brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, rigid, 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.

petiole 1–2 mm;

blade flat to cupped, narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblong or linear, 5–16 × 2–8 mm, base obtuse, margins obscurely glandular-denticulate, strongly revolute, glands 14–36, apex truncate to retuse, abaxial surface pale green, villosulous to strigillose, especially on veins, adaxial surface dark green, strigillose, not glandular papillate; pinnately veined, veins not furrowed.
Inflorescences

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

axillary or terminal, racemelike, 1.5–3 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.

2.5–4 mm wide, not lobed to weakly lobed;

valves smooth, crested or not.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus dentatus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Sandy soils, slopes, flats, maritime chaparral, cypress and pine forests.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[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 dentatus is a narrow endemic, restricted to the Monterey Bay region. Some specimens of this species have been mistaken for C. papillosus. Papillose glands are restricted to leaf blade margins and are absent from adaxial leaf surfaces in C. dentatus, but are evenly distributed over the adaxial leaf surfaces in C. papillosus. Putative hybrids between C. dentatus and C. griseus have been named C. ×lobbianus Hooker (M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn 1942).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 92.
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. cyaneus, 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
Synonyms C. dentatus subsp. floribundus, C. floribundus
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 268. (1838)
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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