Ceanothus arboreus

E. L. Greene, Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 144. 1886

feltleaf ceanothus

C. arboreus var. glaber W.L. Jepson; C. velutinus var. arboreus C. S. Sargent

Description:

Habit: Shrubs or small trees to 7 m.

Stems: erect, not rooting at nodes; twigs brown, rounded, smooth or slightly ridged, pubescent, flexible.

Leaves: evergreen, alternate; not clustered; stipules thin, deciduous; petioles 8--20 mm.

Leaf blades: widely ovate to elliptic, 2.5--7.5 x 2.0--4.0 cm, bases rounded, 3-veined, margins not revolute, serrulate or serrate, glandular or not, tip s acute to obtuse, abaxially pale green, canescent to densely white-tomentose, adaxially dull green, glabrous or slightly puberulent, plane or slightly convex.

Inflorescences: axillary or terminal, panicle-like, 4.5--15.0 cm.

Flowers: pale blue.

Fruits: deeply 3-lobed, 6--8 mm broad, roughened, horns 0; valves clearly or scarcely crested.

Cytology: n = 12 [M. A. Nobs in H. E. McMinn 1942]

Flowering: throughout spring.

Habitat: dry, brushy canyon slopes; below 300 m.

Range: Calif. [Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina Islands] .

Other Information:

A form found on Santa Rosa Island (Calif.) with nearly glabrous leaves has been called var. glaber W.L.Jepson, Man. Fl. Pl. Calif. 619. 1925. In cultivation this species is useful for background screening or on slopes and, also, may be used as a patio specimen. []

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This document was last updated: March, 2004

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