Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus masonii

Ceanothus pinetorum

Bolinas ceanothus, Mason's ceanothus

Coville ceanothus, Coville's ceanothus, Kern ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, 0.6–2 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets dark brown, rigid, ± tomentulose. Shrubs, 0.5–1.5 m, sometimes moundlike.
Stems

erect, spreading, or weakly ascending, sometimes arcuate, rooting at proximal nodes;

branchlets reddish to grayish brown, sometimes glaucous, rigid, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.
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.

sometimes fascicled, not crowded;

petiole 1–3 mm;

blade flat to slightly cupped, slightly folded lengthwise adaxially, widely elliptic to suborbiculate, 10–20 × 8–19 mm, base rounded, margins thick to slightly revolute, dentate to denticulate most of length, teeth 9–15, apex rounded, abaxial surface pale green, glabrous except on veins, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary, 1–2.5 cm.

axillary, 1.2–2.1 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue to purple.

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

3–4 mm wide, not lobed;

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

6–9 mm wide, weakly lobed;

valves smooth to rugulose, horns subapical, prominent, erect, rugose, intermediate ridges present.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus masonii

Ceanothus pinetorum
Phenology Flowering Feb–Apr. Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Soils derived from serpentine, chaparral, pine forests. Rocky granitic or metamorphic slopes and ridges, open pine forests.
Elevation 100–500 m. (300–1600 ft.) 1600–2600 m. (5200–8500 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.)

Ceanothus pinetorum occurs disjunctly in the southern Trinity Mountains (Shasta and Trinity counties) and in the southern Sierra Nevada (Kern and Tulare counties).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 103. FNA vol. 12, p. 106.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes
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. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Name authority McMinn: Madroño 6: 171. (1942) Coville: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 4: 80, plate 6. (1893)
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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