Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus spinosus

Ceanothus velutinus

green-bark ceanothus, redheart

greasewood, mountain balm, snowbrush, snowbrush ceanothus, sticky-laurel, tobacco-brush, varnish-leaf 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, sometimes arborescent, evergreen, 1–6 m. Stems ascending to erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible or ± rigid, puberulent, glabrescent.
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 9–32 mm;

blade aromatic, flat, widely elliptic to ovate-elliptic, (25–)40–80(–130) × (13–)20–55(–60) mm, leathery, resinous, base subcordate to rounded, margins glandular-serrulate, teeth 93–150+, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, velvety puberulent, especially on veins, or glabrous, adaxial surface dark green, shiny, glabrous; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

axillary, paniclelike, 4–17 cm.

axillary, paniclelike, 5–12 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale blue to blue.

sepals and petals cream;

nectary yellow-tinged.
Capsules

4–6 mm wide, not lobed;

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

3–4 mm wide, lobed at apex;

valves smooth or ± rugose, sometimes viscid, weakly crested or not crested.
2n

= 24.

Ceanothus spinosus

Ceanothus velutinus
Phenology Flowering Jan–May.
Habitat Rocky slopes, coastal sage scrub, chaparral.
Elevation 60–900 m. (200–3000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

A common shrub on mountain slopes, Ceanothus velutinus, which reproduces by both seeds and layering, often forms large colonies, especially following fires or forest clearing. The leaves of C. velutinus are strongly aromatic (often vanilla-scented) when crushed, and the adaxial faces, especially in var. laevigatus, appear varnished.

An infusion of leaves of Ceanothus velutinus was used by Native Americans in cleansing and to treat skin inflammations (D. E. Moerman 1998).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces velvety puberulent, especially on veins; capsule valves smooth.
var. velutinus
1. Leaf blade abaxial surfaces glabrous, veins glabrous or sparsely puberulent; capsule valves ± rugose.
var. laevigatus
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 86. FNA vol. 12, p. 83.
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. 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. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. verrucosus
Subordinate taxa
C. velutinus var. laevigatus, C. velutinus var. velutinus
Name authority Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 267. (1838) Douglas: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 125, plate 45. (1831)
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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