Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus papillosus

Ceanothus jepsonii

wartleaf ceanothus

Jepson ceanothus, Jepson's ceanothus, musk brush
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 1–5 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets green to reddish brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, ± flexible to rigid, densely tomentulose. Shrubs, 0.5–1.5 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets reddish to grayish brown, rigid, puberulent, glabrescent.
Leaves

petiole 1–3 mm;

blade cupped to flat, linear, narrowly oblong, or oblong-elliptic, 12–50 × 6–15 mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins minutely glandular-denticulate, revolute, glands 17–31, apex obtuse, truncate, or retuse, abaxial surface pale green, densely villosulous to tomentulose, adaxial surface dark green, sparsely puberulent and glandular-papillate; pinnately veined.

not fascicled, deflexed;

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade ± cupped, slightly folded lengthwise adaxially, elliptic to ± oblong, 10–20 × 5–13 mm, base rounded, margins thick or slightly revolute, spinose-dentate, teeth 7–11, apex rounded or sharply acute, abaxial surface pale yellowish green, glabrous, adaxial surface pale green, glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, racemelike, 2–8 cm.

axillary or terminal, 1–2 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue.

sepals and petals (5–)6(–8), usually blue to lavender or white, rarely pink;

nectary blue;

stamens (5–)6(–8).
Capsules

2–3 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth, viscid when young, not or weakly crested.

5–7 mm wide, lobed;

valves rugose, horns subapical, prominent, thick, erect, rugose, intermediate ridges present.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus papillosus

Ceanothus jepsonii
Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Rocky ridges, slopes, and flats, chaparral, mixed evergreen forests.
Elevation 20–1500 m. (100–4900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus papillosus occurs in the Coast Ranges from San Francisco Bay south to the Santa Ynez Mountains, Ventura County, with disjunct populations in the Santa Ana Mountains, California, and Cerro Bola, in northern Baja California. The name C. papillosus var. roweanus was originally applied to low-growing plants with ascending to spreading, arcuate branches (H. McMinn 1939). M. Van Rensselaer and McMinn (1942) later emended the circumscription to include plants with linear leaves and retuse to truncate leaf apices, but these are found throughout the range of the species. Leaves with obtuse to truncate or retuse leaf apices also can be found on the same plant. Putative hybrids with C. integerrimus and C. oliganthus have been documented (McMinn 1944). Hybrids with C. thyrsiflorus have been named C. ×regius (Jepson) McMinn. Some putatively advanced generation hybrids have narrowly elliptic, weakly papillate leaves with obtuse apices, and sometimes have been misinterpreted as belonging to C. papillosus.

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

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Ceanothus jepsonii, composed of two, allopatric varieties, is the only species with mostly six (rarely eight) sepals and petals, and cymules reduced to solitary flowers (M. A. Nobs 1963). T. M. Hardig et al. (2000) provided evidence showing that the two varieties may not form a monophyletic group. H. McMinn (1942) and Nobs (1963) reported putative hybrids with C. cuneatus and C. prostratus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Sepals and petals usually pale blue to lavender, rarely pink or white; capsules globose.
var. jepsonii
1. Sepals and petals white; capsules ± oblong.
var. albiflorus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 92. FNA vol. 12, p. 106.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus 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. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, 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. 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. jepsonii var. albiflorus, C. jepsonii var. jepsonii
Synonyms C. papillosus subsp. roweanus, C. papillosus var. roweanus
Name authority Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 268. (1838) Greene: Man. Bot. San Francisco, 78. (1894)
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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