Ceanothus greggii

Ceanothus greggii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Ceanothus
Species: C. greggii
Binomial name
Ceanothus greggii
A.Gray

Ceanothus greggii, with the common name desert ceanothus, is a species of shrub in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae.

Distribution

It is native to the Southwestern United States, California, New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico. It grows in desert scrub, sagebrush, chaparral, and other dry habitats.

It was named for its collector Josiah Gregg, who found the plant in 1847 at the site of the Battle of Buena Vista in the state of Coahuila, in northern Mexico during the Mexican-American War by Asa Gray of Harvard University in 1853. [1]

Description

Ceanothus greggii is a shrub that grows erect to nearly 2 m (6.6 ft) in maximum height. Its woody parts are gray in color and somewhat woolly.

The evergreen leaves are oppositely arranged and variable in shape. They may be toothed or smooth along the edges.

The inflorescence is a small cluster of many white flowers. It blooms in spring.[1]

The fruit is a horned capsule a few millimeters wide which bursts explosively to expel the three seeds which require thermal scarification from wildfire before they can germinate.[2]

Wildlife

This shrub is eagerly browsed by livestock and wild ungulates such as Mule deer and Desert Bighorn Sheep.[2]

Varieties

Varieties include: [3] [4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Blakely, Larry, Desert Ceanothus, Ceanothus greggii A. Gray var. vestitus (E. Greene) McMinn (Rhamnaceae), Who's in a Name? People Commemorated in Eastern Sierra Plant Names
  2. 1 2 Forest Service Fire Ecology
  3. ↑ USDA: Subordinate taxa of Ceanothus greggii
  4. ↑ ITIS Standard Report Page: Ceanothus greggii

External links

Media related to Ceanothus greggii at Wikimedia Commons

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