''Ceanothus pumilus'' is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common names dwarf ceanothus and Siskiyou mat.

Range and Habitat

''Ceanothus pumilus'' is native to the mountains of southern

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

and northern

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 grows in habitat such as

coniferous forest Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...

and chaparral, usually on serpentine soils.

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 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 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