''Ceanothus megacarpus'' is a species of flowering

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 ...

known by the common name bigpod ceanothus. This '' Ceanothus'' 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 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where its distribution extends along the Central Coast and includes the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

Description

This shrub may exceed 3 meters in height and is covered in thick oval to nearly rectangular evergreen leaves. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s are small and sparse and are filled with small white to pale lavender flowers with dark centers. The fruit is a bumpy spherical red-green capsule about a centimeter wide. The inside of the capsule is divided into 3 valves, each valve holding a seed. The capsule dehisces neatly in three at the central band to release the seeds.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Ceanothus megacarpus''USDA Plants Profile''Ceanothus megacarpus'' - Photo gallery
megacarpus Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of Santa Barbara County, California Natural history of the Transverse Ranges ~ Plants described in 1846 Taxa named by Thomas Nuttall Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Rhamnaceae-stub