''Ceanothus gloriosus'' is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common name Point Reyes ceanothus. It 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 else ...

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 m ...

, where it is known from the coastline of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and areas north and south. It grows on seaside bluffs and the slopes of the coastal mountains. This shrub grows flat and spreading to erect, approaching two meters in maximum size. The evergreen leaves are oppositely arranged and up to 5 centimeters long, rounded to oval in shape. The edges are toothed, the teeth sometimes spine-tipped. 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 ...

is a small cluster of bright blue to purple flowers. The fruit is a horned capsule about 4 millimeters wide. There are three varieties of this species: *''C. g.'' var. ''exaltatus'' (glory bush) - found north of the Bay Area *''C. g.'' var. ''gloriosus'' (glory mat) - smaller mat-forming variety known mainly from Marin County *''C. g.'' var. ''porrectus'' (Mt. Vision ceanothus) - rare variety endemic to Marin County in the vicinity of

Point Reyes Point Reyes (, meaning "Point of the Kings") is a prominent cape and popular Northern California tourist destination on the Pacific coast. Located in Marin County, it is approximately west-northwest of San Francisco. The term is often appli ...

Cultivation

The species, varieties, and

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s are widely grown by the

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

industry, and used in

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s and

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

landscaping.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
gloriosus Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Plants described in 1937 Taxa named by John Thomas Howell Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Rhamnaceae-stub