Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus spinosus

Ceanothus hearstiorum

green-bark ceanothus, redheart

Hearst ceanothus, Hearst ranch buckbrush, Hearst's ceanothus
Habit 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. Shrubs, evergreen, 0.1–0.3 m, matlike or moundlike.
Stems

spreading or prostrate, not rooting at nodes, some flowering branches ascending;

branchlets green to reddish brown, not thorn-tipped, round or slightly angled in cross section, flexible, densely puberulent.
Leaves

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.

petiole 1–2 mm;

blade flat to cupped, linear, oblong, or oblong-obovate, 8–20 × 2–10 mm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins entire or obscurely glandular-denticulate, weakly revolute, glands 23–31, apex truncate or retuse, abaxial surface green, densely tomentulose, adaxial surface dark green, glandular-papillate and sometimes villosulous; pinnately veined, veins ± furrowed.
Inflorescences

axillary, paniclelike, 4–17 cm.

terminal or axillary, umbel-like or racemelike, 1–5 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale blue to blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue.
Capsules

4–6 mm wide, not lobed;

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

4–5 mm wide, not lobed to weakly lobed;

valves smooth, not crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus spinosus

Ceanothus hearstiorum
Phenology Flowering Jan–May. Flowering Mar–Apr.
Habitat Rocky slopes, coastal sage scrub, chaparral. Consolidated alluvial or serpentine soils, maritime chaparral, coastal prairies.
Elevation 60–900 m. (200–3000 ft.) 20–200 m. (100–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

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

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 86. FNA vol. 12, p. 93.
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. 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
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. 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. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Name authority Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 267. (1838) Hoover & Roof: Four Seasons 2(1): 4. (1966)
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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