''Ceanothus spinosus'', with the common names greenbark and redheart, is a species of ''
Ceanothus
''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceanothus. ''"Ceanothus"' ...
''.
[FLowering Plants of the Santa Monica Mountains, Nancy Dale, 2nd Ed. p. 167] It is native to southern
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
and northern
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
, where it grows in the scrub 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 Mediterrane ...
of the coastal mountain ranges.
Range and habitat
Growth pattern
''Ceanothus spinosus'' is a large treelike
shrub approaching in maximum height.
[
]
Leaves and stems
Leaves have a single main vein rising from the leaf base.[ The thick, firm evergreen leaves are hairless, oval, and up to an inch wide, with smooth margins.][
The bark is smooth and olive green, giving rise to its common name.][ The stem is a rough-barked trunk near the base. Branches are stiff and sharp, or spiny, at the tips.][ ''"Ceanothus"'' means "spiny plant" in Greek, and the species name, ''"spinosus"'', means that it is even more spiny.][
The ]stipules
In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...
(small leaf-like structures at the base of the leaf stem) are thin and fall off early.[
]
Inflorescence and fruit
The shrub blooms in 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 ...
s up to