Ceanothus lemmonii |
Ceanothus perplexans |
|
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Lemmon's ceanothus |
cupped leaf ceanothus, desert 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, 1–2 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown to grayish brown, rigid, glabrate or tomentulose, 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 1–3 mm; blade flat to ± cupped, elliptic, widely obovate, or suborbiculate, 10–20 × 7–18 mm, base rounded, margins thick, not revolute, usually sharply denticulate, sometimes weakly denticulate to almost entire, teeth 7–15, apex rounded to ± truncate, abaxial surface pale green to yellowish green, puberulent, hairs curly, glabrescent, adaxial surface green to yellowish green, sparsely puberulent, hairs curly, glabrescent. |
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, umbel-like to racemelike, 2–6.5 cm. |
axillary, 0.7–2 cm. |
Flowers | sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue. |
sepals and petals white to cream; nectary yellow to green. |
Capsules | 3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex; valves smooth, crested. |
4–6 mm wide, usually not, sometimes weakly, lobed; valves smooth, horns lateral, usually minute, sometimes absent, spreading, intermediate ridges absent. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Ceanothus lemmonii |
Ceanothus perplexans |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–May. | Flowering Jan–Apr. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. | Granitic or metamorphic substrates, rocky slopes, ridges, alluvial fans, chaparral, montane shrublands, pinyon and/or juniper and montane conifer woodlands. |
Elevation | 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) | 500–1900 m. (1600–6200 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA
|
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
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 perplexans occurs in southwestern Arizona, on the desert slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains and Peninsular Ranges of southern California, and in Baja California. Ceanothus specimens from Guadalupe Island, Baja California, with entire or weakly denticulate leaf margins have been referred to either C. crassifolius or C. cuneatus, but in their leaf shape and indumentum they more closely resemble C. perplexans. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 94. | FNA vol. 12, p. 107. |
Parent taxa | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus | Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. greggii var. perplexans | |
Name authority | Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) | Trelease: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(1,2): 417. (1897) |
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