''Ceanothus fresnensis'' 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 Fresno mat. 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 ...

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 central sections of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

and its foothills. Its habitat includes dry woodland and

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 ...

Description

This is a flat, spreading shrub forming mats approaching 6 meters in maximum width. The stems are reddish brown and send down roots at nodes. The evergreen leaves are oppositely arranged and generally under 2 centimeters long. They are oval and have smooth edges but sometimes have a few teeth or notches at the tips. 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 pale to bright blue flowers. The fruit is a horned capsule about half a centimeter long.

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
fresnensis Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Plants described in 1912 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Rhamnaceae-stub