Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus parryi

Ceanothus spinosus

ladybush, Parry ceanothus, Parry's ceanothus

green-bark ceanothus, redheart
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 2–6 m. Stems erect or ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets grayish green to brown, not thorn-tipped, usually round, sometimes ± angled, in cross section, flexible, lanate to woolly, glabrescent. Shrubs, sometimes arborescent, evergreen, 2–6 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets green, thorn-tipped or not, round to ± angled in cross section, rigid, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 1–8 mm;

blade flat to slightly cupped, oblong or ± elliptic, 12–50 × 6–20 mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins entire or obscurely glandular-denticulate, narrowly revolute, glands 21–36, apex obtuse, abaxial surface green, cobwebby, soon glabrescent, adaxial surface dark green, shiny, villosulous, glabrescent; usually 3-veined from base, rarely pinnately veined.

not fascicled;

petiole 4–7 mm;

blade ± cupped, elliptic to oblong, 11–35 × 8–29 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins entire, apex obtuse to weakly retuse, abaxial surface pale green, not glaucous, sometimes puberulent on midribs, adaxial surface green, shiny, glabrous; pinnately veined.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, paniclelike, 5–15 cm.

axillary, paniclelike, 4–17 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue.

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

2.5–4 mm wide, lobed;

valves smooth, not or weakly crested.

4–6 mm wide, not lobed;

valves smooth, not conspicuously viscid, not or weakly crested.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus parryi

Ceanothus spinosus
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Jan–May.
Habitat Rocky soils, open sites, flats, mixed evergreen and redwood forests. Rocky slopes, coastal sage scrub, chaparral.
Elevation 30–800 m. (100–2600 ft.) 60–900 m. (200–3000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus parryi occurs in the outer coast ranges of Oregon (Benton and Lane counties) and from Humboldt County south to Napa County in California; it is reported to hybridize with C. foliosus, C. incanus, and C. thyrsiflorus (H. McMinn 1944). The deep blue sepals and petals, cobwebby indumentum on young leaves, and narrowly revolute leaf margins are diagnostic.

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

Like Ceanothus incanus, plants of C. spinosus are polymorphic for the presence of thorn-tipped branchlets. Putative hybrids with C. thyrsiflorus and C. oliganthus var. sorediatus have been reported (M. Van Rensselaer and H. McMinn 1944).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 90. FNA vol. 12, p. 86.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus 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. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, 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. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Name authority Trelease: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 2, 1: 109. (1888) Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 267. (1838)
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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