Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus tomentosus

Lemmon's ceanothus

woolly leaf ceanothus, woolyleaf 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, evergreen, 1.5–2.5 m. Stems erect, rarely spreading, not rooting at nodes; branchlets reddish brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible, 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.

petiole 1–4 mm;

blade flat, ovate to widely elliptic, 10–25 × 5–12 mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins serrulate to denticulate most of length, not revolute, teeth 39–71, apex obtuse, abaxial surface light or gray-green, tomentose to tomentulose, adaxial surface dark green, villosulous or puberulent, glabrescent; usually 3-veined from base, rarely pinnately veined (veins sometimes obscured by indumentum).
Inflorescences

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

axillary or terminal, racemelike or paniclelike, 2–6 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary usually deep blue, sometimes pale blue.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

3–4 mm wide, slightly lobed at apex;

valves smooth, viscid when young, crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus tomentosus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; nw Mexico
[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.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces uniformly and densely tomentulose, veins obscured; c Sierra Nevada, California.
var. tomentosus
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces sparsely to moderately tomentulose, veins ± evident; s California.
var. olivaceus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 89.
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. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Subordinate taxa
C. tomentosus var. olivaceus, C. tomentosus var. tomentosus
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 190. (1889)
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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