The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

blue blossom, blue blossom ceanothus

cupped leaf ceanothus, desert ceanothus

Habit Shrubs, sometimes arborescent, evergreen, 0.5–6 m. Stems erect, usually ascending to arcuate, rarely prostrate, not rooting at nodes; branchlets green, not thorn-tipped, angled in cross section, flexible, not tuberculate, sparsely puberulent or glabrous. Shrubs, 1–2 m. Stems erect, not rooting at nodes; branchlets brown to grayish brown, rigid, glabrate or tomentulose, glabrescent.
Leaves

petiole 3–10 mm;

blade flat to cupped, elliptic to ovate, 10–40(–50) × 5–15(–20) mm, base obtuse to rounded, margins denticulate to serrulate, usually not revolute, sometimes incompletely revolute, teeth glandular, 23–48, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, sparsely puberulent to villosulous or glabrate, veins prominently raised, puberulent to villosulous, adaxial surface dark green, glabrate; 3-veined from base.

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

terminal, usually racemelike, rarely paniclelike, 2.5–9 cm.

axillary, 0.7–2 cm.

Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary usually pale to deep blue, rarely white.

sepals and petals white to cream;

nectary yellow to green.

Capsules

3–4 mm wide, weakly lobed;

valves smooth, viscid, not 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 thyrsiflorus

Ceanothus perplexans

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun. Flowering Jan–Apr.
Habitat Sandy or rocky flats and slopes, maritime chaparral, open sites in mixed evergreen and conifer forests. Granitic or metamorphic substrates, rocky slopes, ridges, alluvial fans, chaparral, montane shrublands, pinyon and/or juniper and montane conifer woodlands.
Elevation 10–600 m. (0–2000 ft.) 500–1900 m. (1600–6200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus occurs along the coast from Coos County, Oregon, south to Santa Barbara County, California, and disjunctly near Eréndira, Baja California. A wide range of growth forms characterize this species and the closely related C. griseus, including plants ranging from almost prostrate to arborescent, sometimes with single trunks. Prostrate plants from several maritime bluffs along the California coast have been called C. thyrsiflorus var. repens McMinn; they retain their stature under cultivation. Named hybrids include C. ×regius (Jepson) McMinn (C. thyrsiflorus × C. papillosus) and C. ×vanrensselaeri Roof (C. thyrsiflorus × C. incanus). H. McMinn (1944) reported hybrids with C. foliosus.

(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. 90. 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. 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. 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. thyrsiflorus var. chandleri, C. thyrsiflorus var. repens C. greggii var. perplexans
Name authority Eschscholtz: Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Pétersbourg Hist. Acad. 10: 285. (1826) — (as thyrsiflora) Trelease: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(1,2): 417. (1897)
Web links