Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus incanus

Lemmon's ceanothus

coast whitethorn
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, 1–4 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets light gray, glaucous, thorn-tipped or not, round or slightly angled in cross section, rigid, 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.

not fascicled;

petiole 3–12 mm;

blade flat, elliptic, ovate, or suborbiculate, 20–60 × 10–30 mm, base rounded or subcordate, margins entire, sometimes minutely glandular-denticulate above middle, glands 26–52, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, appressed-puberulent, glabrescent, adaxial surface grayish green, dull, glabrate; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, usually paniclelike, sometimes racemelike, 3–6 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary usually white to cream, sometimes pink.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

4–5 mm wide, ± lobed;

valves rugose, viscid when young, not or weakly crested.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus incanus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Flats, slopes, chaparral, open sites in conifer and mixed evergreen forests.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 60–1000 m. (200–3300 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 incanus is restricted to the Klamath and Santa Cruz mountains and North Coast Ranges of California. Some populations are evidently polymorphic for the presence of thorn-tipped or non-thorn-tipped branchlets (F. K. Klein 1970). Putative hybrids with C. papillosus and C. parryi have been reported (H. McMinn 1944); hybrids with C. thyrsiflorus have been called C. ×vanrensselaeri Roof.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 86.
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. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, 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) Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 265. (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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