Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus hearstiorum

Lemmon's ceanothus

Hearst ceanothus, Hearst ranch buckbrush, Hearst's 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, 0.1–0.3 m, matlike or moundlike.
Stems

spreading or prostrate, not rooting at nodes, some flowering branches ascending;

branchlets green to reddish brown, not thorn-tipped, round or slightly angled in cross section, flexible, densely 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, linear, oblong, or oblong-obovate, 8–20 × 2–10 mm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins entire or obscurely glandular-denticulate, weakly revolute, glands 23–31, apex truncate or retuse, abaxial surface green, densely tomentulose, adaxial surface dark green, glandular-papillate and sometimes villosulous; pinnately veined, veins ± furrowed.
Inflorescences

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

terminal or axillary, umbel-like or racemelike, 1–5 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.

4–5 mm wide, not lobed to weakly lobed;

valves smooth, not crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus hearstiorum
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Mar–Apr.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Consolidated alluvial or serpentine soils, maritime chaparral, coastal prairies.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 20–200 m. (100–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[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 hearstiorum occurs in a small area of coastal bluffs in northern San Luis Obispo County, growing in close proximity to another local endemic, C. maritimus (subg. Cerastes).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 93.
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. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, 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) Hoover & Roof: Four Seasons 2(1): 4. (1966)
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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