Ceanothus lemmonii |
Ceanothus palmeri |
|
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Lemmon's ceanothus |
Palmer ceanothus, Palmer's ceanothus |
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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 or semideciduous, 1–2 m. Stems ascending to erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets green or gray-green, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible or rigid, glabrous or glabrate. |
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 3–8 mm; blade ± cupped, elliptic, oblong, or oblong-ovate, 13–30 × 9–15 mm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins entire, apex acute to rounded, abaxial surface pale green, glabrous, adaxial surface green, dull to ± shiny, glabrous; usually pinnately veined, rarely 3-veined. |
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, umbel-like to racemelike, 2–6.5 cm. |
terminal or axillary, paniclelike, 7.5–22 cm. |
Flowers | sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue. |
sepals, petals, and nectary usually white, rarely pale blue. |
Capsules | 3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex; valves smooth, crested. |
4.5–7 mm wide, lobed; valves smooth, viscid, crested. |
2n | = 24. |
|
Ceanothus lemmonii |
Ceanothus palmeri |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–May. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. | Rocky slopes, chaparral, conifer forests. |
Elevation | 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) | 1100–1800 m. (3600–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA
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CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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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 palmeri occurs in the Transverse and Peninsular ranges of California, with a disjunct distribution in the central Sierra Nevada foothills (Amador and El Dorado counties). Ceanothus palmeri appears to be closely related to and intermediate between C. integerrimus and C. spinosus (W. L. Jepson 1909–1943, vol. 2; M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn 1942). We treat this species as distinct from C. spinosus on the basis of its white flowers, and viscid, lobed fruit, but note that some populations intergrade, especially in the Transverse Ranges of southern California. Leaf blades of both C. palmeri and C. spinosus have somewhat shiny adaxial faces, but those of C. integerrimus appear dull. Included here are plants with weakly three-veined leaf blades with somewhat shiny adaxial surfaces from the Transverse Ranges, previously treated by Van Rensselaer and McMinn as part of C. integerrimus. (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 | ||
Synonyms | C. spinosus var. palmeri | |
Name authority | Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) | Trelease: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 2, 1: 109. (1888) |
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