''Ceanothus incanus'' is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common name coast whitethorn. 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

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 ...

through the

North Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. Phy ...

into the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast ...

Description

This thorny shrub grows erect to approach a maximum height of 4 meters. The woody parts are gray in color and waxy and somewhat hairy in texture. The evergreen leaves are alternately arranged. They are generally oval in shape and usually smooth along the edges, but sometimes minutely toothed. 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 panicle-like cluster of white flowers up to about 7 centimeters long. The fruit is a rough, lobed capsule about half a centimeter long containing three seeds.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
incanus Endemic flora of California Flora of the Klamath Mountains 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 1838 Taxa named by Asa Gray Taxa named by John Torrey {{Rhamnaceae-stub