Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus masonii

Ceanothus integerrimus

Bolinas ceanothus, Mason's ceanothus

deer brush
Habit Shrubs, 0.6–2 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets dark brown, rigid, ± tomentulose. Shrubs, deciduous, 1.5–3 m. Stems ascending to erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets pale green, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible, glabrous or strigillose.
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.

not fascicled;

petiole 3–12 mm;

blade flat, lanceolate, elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or ovate, (10–)20–80 × 10–45 mm, base rounded, margins entire or denticulate distally, teeth 3–5, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, glabrate or puberulent, especially on veins, sometimes glabrescent, adaxial surface green, dull, glabrous or sparsely puberulent; usually 3-veined from base, rarely pinnately veined.
Inflorescences

axillary, 1–2.5 cm.

usually terminal, rarely axillary, racemelike or paniclelike, 5–25 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue to purple.

sepals, petals, and nectary usually white or pale to dark blue, rarely pink.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, not lobed;

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

4–5 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth, viscid, not or weakly crested.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus masonii

Ceanothus integerrimus
Phenology Flowering Feb–Apr. Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Soils derived from serpentine, chaparral, pine forests. Rocky slopes, open sites, chaparral, conifer and mixed evergreen forests.
Elevation 100–500 m. (300–1600 ft.) 25–2600 m. (100–8500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; OR; WA
[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.)

G. T. Benson (1930) recognized four varieties in Ceanothus integerrimus, based on flower color, leaf blade shape, venation, and indumentum. With the exception of regional clines in indumentum density, N. C. Coile (1988) was unable to detect consistent patterns of variation correlated with ecological or geographical distribution. The types of C. integerrimus (D. Douglas in 1831) and C. andersonii (C. C. Parry in 1888) are notable in that they bear oblong leaf blades with one principal vein from the base; the basal pair of secondary veins are shorter than those distal to it and relatively short compared to those in leaves elsewhere in the species. This venation is restricted to only a few specimens from near Ben Lomond, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, and has not been seen since the collection by Parry. W. L. Jepson (1909–1943, vol. 2) suggested that the venation pattern may be correlated with the oblong leaf shape that is shown by the type specimens.

Young shoots of Ceanothus integerrimus were used by Native Americans in basketry and for arrow foreshafts (D. E. Moerman 1998).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 103. FNA vol. 12, p. 85.
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. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, 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
Synonyms C. andersonii, C. integerrimus var. californicus, C. integerrimus var. macrothyrsus, C. integerrimus var. puberulus
Name authority McMinn: Madroño 6: 171. (1942) Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 329. (1838)
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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