Ceanothus tomentosus

Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Ceanothus
Species:
C. tomentosus
Binomial name
Ceanothus tomentosus

Ceanothus tomentosus, with the common name woollyleaf ceanothus, is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae. It is characterized by pale-blue to deep blue flowers and wooly leaves. It is native to California and Baja California, having an unusual disjunct distribution in the Peninsular Ranges and the north-central Sierra Nevada.

Description

Ceanothus tomentosus is an erect shrub (occasionally tree-like) approaching 3 m in maximum height. The woody parts are reddish or brown, especially when new. The evergreen leaves are alternately arranged, elliptic to oval in shape, dark green and with short hairs on the top and woolly on the undersides. The leaves have a petiole 1 to 3 mm long, with the leaf blade 10 to 25 mm long, 5 to 12 mm wide. The margins of the leaves are serrated with 40 to 60 tiny glandular teeth. The inflorescence is a cluster several centimeters long of pale blue to deep blue flowers. The fruit is a lobed capsule a few millimeters long which is sticky when new.[2][3]

Characteristics

Diagnostic features include the leaves being 3-ribbed from the base, the leaf veins being more or less obscured by the hairs, and the teeth on the edge of the leaf being tipped with glands, which sets it apart from plants like Ceanothus cyaneus. The twigs on this species are also flexible and not thorn-like, as opposed to species like Ceanothus leucodermis with rigid, thorn-like twigs.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and phenology

This species was described by Charles Christopher Parry in 1889. It is within the Ceanothus subgenus Ceanothus.[3] The specific epithet tomentosus refers to the dense, interwoven trichomes on the plant.[5]

Although the Ceanothus subgenera vary in their preference to sprout from lignotubers (resprouting) versus seeds (nonsprouting) after fire, Ceanothus tomentosus exhibits both resprouting and nonsprouting plants across its range. Plants in the Sierra Nevada section of the distribution resprout after fire, while plants in the Southern California area of distribution are non-sprouters. Nonsprouting populations tended to have an earlier onset of flowering as well.[6]

Budding and flowering

Distribution and habitat

This species is distributed in both the United States and Mexico. In the United States, it is found in the state of California, in the Peninsular Ranges of Southern California, but also with a disjunct distribution in a portion of the north and central Sierra Nevada and its foothills.[2] In Mexico, this species is found in the northwestern part of Baja California, from Tijuana to the southern end of the Sierra de San Pedro Martir.[7]

This plant primarily occurs on open sites on slopes, ridges, chaparral, and coniferous forest.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Ceanothus tomentosus". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Burge, Dylan O.; Wilken, Dieter H. (2020). "Ceanothus tomentosus". Jepson eFlora (8 ed.). Jepson Flora Project. Archived from the original on 2017-06-08. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Schmidt, Clifford L.; Wilken, Dieter. "Ceanothus tomentosus". Flora of North America. 12: 89.
  4. ↑ "Ceanothus key to species". Jepson eFlora. Archived from the original on 2021-05-15. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  5. ↑ "Ceanothus tomentosus". www.sci.sdsu.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  6. ↑ Schwilk, Dylan W.; Ackerly, David D. (2005). "Is there a cost to resprouting? Seedling growth rate and drought tolerance in sprouting and nonsprouting Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 92 (3): 404–410. doi:10.3732/ajb.92.3.404. ISSN 1537-2197. PMID 21652416.
  7. ↑ Rebman, J. P.; Gibson, J.; Rich, K. (2016). "Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico" (PDF). San Diego Society of Natural History. 45: 242.
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