''Ceanothus pumilus'' is a 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 ...

known by the common names dwarf ceanothus and Siskiyou mat.

Range and Habitat

''Ceanothus pumilus'' is native to the mountains of southern Oregon and northern California, where it grows in habitat such as coniferous forest and

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 ...

, usually on

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 ...

Description

''Ceanothus pumilus'' is a low-lying shrub taking the form of a mat or tangled mound up to about 2.5 meters wide. The small evergreen leaves are oppositely arranged, each just over a centimeter in maximum length. The leaves are thick, firm and ribbed, flat or cupped, hairless and dark green on top and generally hairy and paler in color on the undersides. The leaf usually has a distinctive three- (sometimes two-) toothed tip. Branches and twigs mature to gray and are often reddish when young. The inflorescence is an umbel-like cluster of small flowers in shades of blue, lavender, or white. When newly opened, the flowers have a closed star-like shape with protruding yellow anthers. The fruit is a horned capsule about half a centimeter long.

References

External links

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Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
pumilus Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of the Klamath Mountains Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Plants described in 1893 Taxa named by Edward Lee Greene {{Rhamnaceae-stub