Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus fresnensis

Lemmon's ceanothus

Fresno ceanothus, Fresno mat
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, 0.1–0.3 m, matlike.
Stems

prostrate or spreading, rooting at proximal nodes;

branchlets brown to reddish or grayish brown, rigid, tomentulose.
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, sometimes crowded, not obscuring internodes;

petiole 1–2 mm;

blade flat or ± cupped, elliptic to oblanceolate, 4–12 × 3–8 mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins ± thick, not revolute, usually entire, sometimes minutely denticulate near apex, teeth 0–3, apex rounded to retuse, abaxial surface pale green, strigillose, adaxial surface dark green, shiny, puberulent, glabrescent.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, 1–2.3 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary usually blue, rarely pale blue.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

4–6 mm wide, weakly lobed;

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

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus fresnensis
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Granitic soils and outcrops, semishaded sites, conifer forests.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 400–2200 m. (1300–7200 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 fresnensis occurs infrequently along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, from Nevada County south to Fresno County. Despite its similarity to C. arcuatus, the two species can be separated by differences in life form and intensity of flower color. Ceanothus fresnensis tends to occur in relatively dense forests, whereas C. arcuatus occurs in open, relatively exposed sites, often at higher elevations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 101.
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. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, 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) Dudley ex Abrams: Bot. Gaz. 53: 68. (1912)
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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