Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus papillosus

Ceanothus perplexans

wartleaf ceanothus

cupped leaf ceanothus, desert ceanothus
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, 1–2 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown to grayish brown, rigid, glabrate or tomentulose, 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;

petiole 1–3 mm;

blade flat to ± cupped, elliptic, widely obovate, or suborbiculate, 10–20 × 7–18 mm, base rounded, margins thick, not revolute, usually sharply denticulate, sometimes weakly denticulate to almost entire, teeth 7–15, apex rounded to ± truncate, abaxial surface pale green to yellowish green, puberulent, hairs curly, glabrescent, adaxial surface green to yellowish green, sparsely puberulent, hairs curly, glabrescent.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, racemelike, 2–8 cm.

axillary, 0.7–2 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue.

sepals and petals white to cream;

nectary yellow to green.
Capsules

2–3 mm wide, lobed;

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

4–6 mm wide, usually not, sometimes weakly, lobed;

valves smooth, horns lateral, usually minute, sometimes absent, spreading, intermediate ridges absent.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus papillosus

Ceanothus perplexans
Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering Jan–Apr.
Habitat Rocky ridges, slopes, and flats, chaparral, mixed evergreen forests. Granitic or metamorphic substrates, rocky slopes, ridges, alluvial fans, chaparral, montane shrublands, pinyon and/or juniper and montane conifer woodlands.
Elevation 20–1500 m. (100–4900 ft.) 500–1900 m. (1600–6200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[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.)

Ceanothus perplexans occurs in southwestern Arizona, on the desert slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains and Peninsular Ranges of southern California, and in Baja California. Ceanothus specimens from Guadalupe Island, Baja California, with entire or weakly denticulate leaf margins have been referred to either C. crassifolius or C. cuneatus, but in their leaf shape and indumentum they more closely resemble C. perplexans.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 92. FNA vol. 12, p. 107.
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. 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. 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. papillosus subsp. roweanus, C. papillosus var. roweanus C. greggii var. perplexans
Name authority Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 268. (1838) Trelease: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(1,2): 417. (1897)
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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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