Buckbrush
The other ceanothus. Stiff, grey, wedge-leaved and evergreen, and it flowers a month before deer brush.
In brief
Ceanothus cuneatus, Rhamnaceae.
- Evergreen shrub, 1 to 3 m
- Native to California and Oregon
- Flowers February to May
- Fruit a three-lobed capsule
Where it grows
Dry chaparral slopes and rocky ground through the foothills.
When it blooms
February to May, in tight cream-white clusters packed along rigid twigs.
Seed and fruit
A three-lobed capsule that dries and throws its seed. The seed is long-lived in the soil and germinates after fire.
Here
Photographed on April 12, 2023 growing through a manzanita in flower. Two names, one plant: buckbrush and wedgeleaf ceanothus. The leaves are the tell - small, thick, opposite and wedge-shaped, unlike the larger alternate leaves of deer brush, and the shrub holds them all year where deer brush drops them.
By Yggdrasil Springs
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