Biorepository Data Portal

Christie et al. 2006, Wiggins 1964, Benson and Darrow 1981, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Common Name: desert ceanothus Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Shrub General: Intricately branched shrubs 0.5-2 m tall. Bark is gray, while branches are opposite, stiff but not spiny. Leaves: Opposite, petioles only 1-3 mm long, blades narrowly ovate to elliptic or obovate, 5-18 mm long, 3-10 mm wide, entire to dentate, dark green above, paler and distinctly pinnate-veined beneath. Flowers: Infloresence in small umbel-like clusters, clayx lobes about 2 mm long, whitish, petals white slightly longer than the calyx. Fruits: Capsule globose, slightly 3-lobed, 3-5 mm in diameter. Ecology: Grows on dry, rocky slopes, foothills, canyons, gullies and in erosion channels from 3,000-7,000 ft (915-2135 m); flowers March-April. Distribution: s and c CA, s NV, s UT, AZ, s NM, s TX; south to c MEX. Notes: Diagnostic characteristics include its lack of thorns, grayish bark, and opposite branches and leaves that are thick and leathery, and distinctly pinnate veined beneath, as opposed to other Ceonothus that are alternate and with 3 veins joined at the base; this species also flowers in the spring. Host plant for Hedgerow Hairstreak butterfly. Ethnobotany: Important medicinal root for cleansing lymphs and blood. Berries eaten once sweetened with sugar, inner bark also edible. Used for tonsil inflammation, sore throats and enlarged lymph nodes. Etymology: Ceanothus is from the Greek keanothus, which is a name for a spiny plant, while greggii is named after Josiah Gregg (1806-1850), frontier trader and author, who sent many specimens to Dr. George Engelmann in St. Louis from little known areas of the southwest. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015