Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus otayensis

Lemmon's ceanothus

Otay Mountain 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, 1–3.5 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets grayish brown to brown, ± flexible to 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;

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade flat to ± cupped, widely elliptic to obovate, 5–13 × 4–10 mm, base cuneate, margins revolute, sometimes wavy, coarsely denticulate near apex, teeth 3–5, apex truncate, retuse, or cuspidate, abaxial surface green, tomentulose, adaxial surface green, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.
Inflorescences

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

axillary or terminal, 0.6–1.8 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals and petals white;

nectary tan to brown.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

4–6 mm wide, weakly lobed;

valves smooth, horns minute or absent, intermediate ridges absent.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus otayensis
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Jan–Apr.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Rocky slopes, chaparral.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 500–1100 m. (1600–3600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[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 otayensis is known from the Otay and San Miguel Mountains, southern San Diego County, with at least one locality in northern Baja California. McMinn described C. otayensis as a hybrid between C. crassifolius and C. perplexans. However, neither of the putative parents occurs sympatrically with C. otayensis, and its populations do not display the increased variation expected from hybridization.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 108.
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. 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. 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) McMinn: in M. van Rensselaer and H. McMinn, Ceanothus, 273, fig. 102. (1942) — as hybrid
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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