''Ceanothus ferrisiae'' (sometimes spelled ''ferrisae''USFWS Species Profile: ''C. ferrisae''
/ref>) is a rare species of

shrub A shrub (often also called a 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 ...

in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large 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 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...

. Its common name is coyote ceanothus.

Description

''Ceanothus ferrisiae'' grows erect to a maximum height approaching two meters. The woody parts are reddish in color when new and age gray. The evergreen leaves are oppositely arranged and measure up to 3 centimeters long. They are firm, flat, and generally toothed along the edges. The upper surface is hairless and deep green and the underside is paler in color and fuzzy in texture. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a small cluster of white flowers which bloom in the winter. The fruit is a rough, horned capsule just under a centimeter wide.

Distribution

''Ceanothus ferrisiae'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

, where it is known from only four or five occurrences near Mt. Hamilton in the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

.California Native Plant Society Rare Plants Profile
/ref> The largest population, located near Anderson Dam, is recovering from a 1992

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

that killed 95% of the plants.USFWS
Determination of endangered status for ten plants... from serpentine habitats in the San Francisco Bay Region of California.
''Federal Register'' February 3, 1995. It is a member of the

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

s endemic flora and it occurs in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

. It is a federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

Conservation

There are about 6000 individuals remaining in five occurrences.The Nature Conservancy
/ref> The plant is threatened by loss and degradation of its habitat, which is being cleared for construction and used for dumping. The species also seems to have low

recruitment Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the processes involved in choosing individual ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Ceanothus ferrisiae''USDA Plants Profile: Ceanothus ferrisiae''Ceanothus ferrisiae'' - Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5055710 ferrisiae Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of Santa Clara County, California Endemic flora of the San Francisco Bay Area Plants described in 1933 NatureServe critically imperiled species Critically endangered flora of California