Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus sanguineus

Lemmon's ceanothus

Oregon tea tree, red-stem 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, deciduous, 1–2.5 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets greenish to reddish brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible to ± 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.

petiole 6–25 mm;

blade not aromatic, flat, ovate, ovate-elliptic, or widely elliptic, 25–100 × (17–)20–60 mm, herbaceous, not resinous, base rounded or subcordate, margins serrulate, teeth 50–100+, apex acute to rounded, abaxial surface pale green, glabrous or puberulent, especially on veins, adaxial surface green, dull, glabrate; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

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

axillary, paniclelike, cylindric, 5–12 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals and petals usually white to cream, sometimes pink-tinged;

nectary cream.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

4–5 mm wide, weakly lobed near apex;

valves smooth, usually not crested, sometimes weakly crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus sanguineus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Open areas in forests, clear-cuts, rocky hillsides, slopes, prairies, burns.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 0–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; MI; MT; OR; WA; BC
[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.)

Putative hybrids between Ceanothus sanguineus and C. velutinus have been reported from British Columbia and Oregon (H. McMinn 1944). The occurrence of C. sanguineus in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Keweenaw County) is a significant disjunction from the nearest locations in western Montana.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 83.
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. 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. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Synonyms C. oreganus
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 167. (1813)
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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