Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus megacarpus

Ceanothus maritimus

big pod ceanothus

maritime ceanothus, San Luis obispo ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, 1.5–6 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets grayish brown to brown, flexible, appressed puberulent to tomentulose, hairs straight. Shrubs, 0.3–1 m, moundlike.
Stems

usually prostrate to ascending, rarely erect, sometimes rooting at proximal nodes;

branchlets reddish to grayish brown, rigid, smooth to slightly ridged, tomentulose, glabrescent.
Leaves

sometimes alternate, not fascicled, sometimes crowded;

petiole 1–5 mm;

blade flat to cupped, oval, elliptic, or oblanceolate, 10–25(–33) × 5–19 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins thick, usually entire, rarely remotely denticulate, teeth 5–7, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, glabrous or sparsely strigillose on veins, adaxial surface green, glabrous.

not fascicled;

petiole 1–2 mm;

blade flat or cupped, obovate to oblong-obovate, 8–20 × 4–12(–15) mm, base cuneate, margins thick to revolute, usually entire, sometimes denticulate near apex, teeth 3–5, apex acute to rounded, truncate, or retuse, abaxial surface grayish green, tomentulose, adaxial surface green, glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary, 1–2 cm.

axillary, 0.8–1.5 cm.
Flowers

sepals and petals white;

nectary blue to black.

sepals and petals pale to deep blue, sometimes tinged with lavender;

nectary dark purplish green.
Capsules

7–12 mm wide, not lobed;

valves smooth or rugulose to weakly ridged near apex;

horns subapical, prominent, erect, often rugulose, or weakly developed to absent, intermediate ridges absent.

5–8 mm wide, not to weakly lobed;

valves smooth, horns subapical, minute, erect, intermediate ridges absent.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus megacarpus

Ceanothus maritimus
Phenology Flowering Feb–May.
Habitat Maritime terraces and bluffs, alluvial or serpentine soils, coastal prairies, open sites in maritime chaparral.
Elevation 10–60 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Some populations of Ceanothus megacarpus are polymorphic for leaf arrangement. Plants assignable to either var. insularis or var. megacarpus based on leaf arrangement may have fruits intermediate to both varieties. Putative hybrids between var. megacarpus and C. cuneatus were reported by H. McMinn (1944), but their variable leaf arrangement (alternate and opposite on the same plant) may also represent intermediates between var. insularis and var. megacarpus.

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

Ceanothus maritimus is restricted to a small area of coastal bluffs in northern San Luis Obispo County, growing in close proximity to another local endemic, C. hearstiorum (subg. Ceanothus).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaves mostly alternate; capsule valves rugulose to weakly ridged near apex; horns prominent.
var. megacarpus
1. Leaves mostly opposite; fruit valves smooth; horns weakly developed or absent.
var. insularis
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 97. FNA vol. 12, p. 101.
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. masonii, 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. 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. megacarpus var. insularis, C. megacarpus var. megacarpus
Synonyms C. macrocarpus
Name authority Nuttall: N. Amer. Sylv. 2: 46. (1846) Hoover: Leafl. W. Bot. 7: 111. (1953)
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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