''Ceanothus roderickii'' is a rare species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common name Pine Hill 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 ...

to western El Dorado County, California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodlands of the

Sierra Nevada foothills :''See Sierra Nevada for general information about the mountain range in the United States.'' The ecology of the Sierra Nevada, located in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, is diverse and complex: the plants and animals are a significan ...

, such as the

Pine Hill Ecological Reserve Pine Hill Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve of located due east of Folsom Lake in the Sierra Nevada foothills, in El Dorado County, California. The reserve was established in 1979, and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Pi ...

. It is named after 20th century California flora explorer, botanist, and arboretum director Wayne Roderick.

Description

This rare shrub is up to about 3 meters wide and flat, forming low brambles or mats. The grayish brown stems root at nodes as they grow horizontally along the ground. The tiny evergreen leaves are oppositely arranged. Each is only about a centimeter long, widely lance-shaped and smooth along the edges or sometimes toothed near the tip. The top surface is green and hairless and the underside is somewhat woolly. 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 white to pale blue flowers. The fruit is a capsule about half a centimeter long, sometimes bearing small horns on top.

Habitat

''Ceanothus roderickii'' is found almost exclusively on soils of

gabbro Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...

origin in the Pine Hill Geological Formation.U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (2002
Recovery Plan for Gabbro Soil Plants of the Central Sierra Nevada Foothills
Portland, OR. It is a federally listed endangered species.

Conservation

This endangered plant was first collected in 1956 near Shingle Springs. It is threatened by several factors, including suppression of the

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

it requires for reproduction,

off-road vehicle An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with de ...

s, road maintenance and construction, and development.Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Profile
/ref> There are ten to twentyCalifornia Native Plants Society Rare Plant Profile
/ref> remaining occurrences.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Ceanothus roderickii''USDA Plants Profile: ''Ceanothus roderickii''The Nature Conservancy''Ceanothus roderickii'' - Photo gallery

Description

Habitat

Conservation

References

External links

Further reading