''Ceanothus confusus'' is a species of

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large Family (biology), family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 specie ...

known by the common name Rincon Ridge ceanothus. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

where it grows in the coastal mountains north of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. Its habitats include

coniferous forest Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

, woodland, and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

.California Native Plant Society Rare Plants Profile
/ref> This is a low, spreading shrub often forming a short mat up to about 1.2 meters wide. The stem is gray-brown with new twigs having a reddish color and fuzzy texture. The evergreen leaves are oppositely arranged. Each is up to 2 centimeters long and oval in shape with 3 to 5 large teeth. The upper surface is shiny green and the underside is paler and feltlike in texture with hairs along the veins. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a small cluster of blue or purple flowers. The fruit is a horned capsule about half a centimeter wide.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Ceanothus confusus'' (Rincon ridge ceanothus)Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Ceanothus confusus''USDA Plants Profile for ''Ceanothus confusus'' (Rincon ridge ceanothus) California Native Plant Society, Milo Baker Chapter: "Rincon Ridge Park Sensitive Plant Area"
— ''Ceanothus confusus habitat''.
UC Photos gallery of ''Ceanothus confusus''
confusus Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges ~ Natural history of Lake County, California Natural history of Napa County, California Natural history of Sonoma County, California Endemic flora of the San Francisco Bay Area Plants described in 1939 Taxa named by John Thomas Howell Critically endangered flora of California {{Rhamnaceae-stub