Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus masonii

Ceanothus microphyllus

Bolinas ceanothus, Mason's ceanothus

littleleaf buckbrush, sandflat ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, 0.6–2 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets dark brown, rigid, ± tomentulose. Shrubs, deciduous, 0.4–0.7 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets reddish green or yellow-green, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible, usually puberulent, sometimes 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.

often fascicled;

petiole 0.5–1 mm;

blade flat, elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or narrowly obovate, 2–10 × 1–6 mm, base cuneate, margins entire or weakly denticulate distally, not wavy, teeth 5–9, apex rounded or obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, puberulent on veins, adaxial surface green, glabrous; pinnately veined or 3-veined from base (venation obscure).
Inflorescences

axillary, 1–2.5 cm.

axillary or terminal, umbel-like or ± racemelike, 1–3 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue to purple.

sepals, petals, and nectary white.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, not lobed;

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

3–4.5 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth, not crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus masonii

Ceanothus microphyllus
Phenology Flowering Feb–Apr. Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Soils derived from serpentine, chaparral, pine forests. Sandy flats, shrublands, pine-oak woodlands.
Elevation 100–500 m. (300–1600 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA
[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.)

Short-statured plants of Ceanothus microphyllus with ovate-elliptic leaves, evident venation, and racemelike inflorescences have been called C. serpyllifolius (M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn 1942; W. H. Duncan and J. T. Kartesz 1981). Ceanothus serpyllifolius is treated here as part of C. microphyllus, because of continuous variation in leaf size, shape, and inflorescence architecture. Ceanothus serpyllifolius also has been applied to small-leaved, short-statured plants of C. americanus, some of which may be hybrids between that species and C. microphyllus (N. C. Coile 1988).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 103. FNA vol. 12, p. 83.
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. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, C. lemmonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, 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. serpyllifolius
Name authority McMinn: Madroño 6: 171. (1942) Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 154. (1803)
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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