Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus masonii

Ceanothus foliosus

Bolinas ceanothus, Mason's ceanothus

wavy leaf ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, 0.6–2 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets dark brown, rigid, ± tomentulose. Shrubs, evergreen, 0.3–3.5 m. Stems erect, ascending, arcuate, or prostrate, not rooting at nodes; branchlets green, not thorn-tipped, round or slightly angled in cross section, flexible, villosulous.
Leaves

not fascicled;

petiole 1–2 mm;

blade flat, usually elliptic or oval, sometimes suborbiculate, 7–21 × 4–13 mm, base rounded to ± cuneate, margins not revolute, denticulate most of length, teeth 9–17, apex obtuse, rounded to truncate, abaxial surface pale green to grayish green, strigose on veins, glabrate, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous.

petiole 1–3 mm;

blade flat or ± folded lengthwise, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic or oblanceolate, 5–24 × 3–13 mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins entire or weakly glandular-denticulate most of length, ± thick, not revolute, usually wavy, sometimes not wavy, teeth 31–42, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green to grayish green, villosulous or glabrous and sometimes sparsely puberulent on veins, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous or sparsely puberulent; pinnately veined or faintly 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

axillary, 1–2.5 cm.

axillary, umbel-like to racemelike, 1–3.5(–7) cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue to purple.

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

3–4 mm wide, not lobed;

valves smooth, horns apical, minute, not rugose, intermediate ridges absent.

3–4 mm wide, weakly lobed at apex;

valves smooth, not or weakly crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus masonii

Ceanothus foliosus
Phenology Flowering Feb–Apr.
Habitat Soils derived from serpentine, chaparral, pine forests.
Elevation 100–500 m. (300–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus masonii occurs only at a few localities on Bolinas Ridge, Marin County. With the exception of its leaf morphology, it bears a close resemblance to C. gloriosus var. exaltatus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces moderately to densely villosulous.
var. medius
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces glabrous or sometimes sparsely puberulent on veins.
→ 2
2. Leaf blades ± folded lengthwise, margins wavy, glandular-denticulate.
var. foliosus
2. Leaf blades flat to ± folded lengthwise, margins not to weakly wavy, entire or weakly denticulate near apex.
var. vineatus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 103. FNA vol. 12, p. 93.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes 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. lemmonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, 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. 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. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Subordinate taxa
C. foliosus var. foliosus, C. foliosus var. medius, C. foliosus var. vineatus
Name authority McMinn: Madroño 6: 171. (1942) Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 172. (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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