Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus pumilus

Lemmon's ceanothus

dwarf ceanothus, Siskiyou mat
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, 0.1–0.4 m, matlike to moundlike.
Stems

prostrate to spreading, sometimes rooting at proximal nodes;

branchlets reddish 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 1–2 mm;

blade flat to ± cupped, slightly folded lengthwise adaxially, narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly oblong-oblanceolate, 5–15 × 3–6 mm, base cuneate, margins thick to ± revolute, usually denticulate near apex, sometimes entire, teeth (0 or) 2–3, apex usually truncate, sometimes obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, sparsely strigillose to glabrous, adaxial surface green to grayish green, dull, glabrous, sometimes glaucous.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, 1–1.7 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary pale blue to lavender.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

4–6 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth, horns subapical, minute or weakly developed bulges, intermediate ridges absent.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus pumilus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Rocky soils derived from serpentine, open flats and slopes, chaparral, conifer forests.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 100–2200 m. (300–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[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 pumilus is endemic to the Klamath Mountains, where it occurs strictly on serpentine soils; it sometimes has been confused with C. arcuatus and C. prostratus, from which it differs principally by its oblanceolate to oblong-lanceolate leaf blades with a truncate, 3-toothed apex.

Hybrids between Ceanothus pumilus and C. cuneatus have been called C. ×humboldtensis Roof.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 105.
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. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Synonyms C. prostratus var. profugus
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) Greene: Erythea 1: 149. (1893)
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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