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Ceanothus cuneatus (Hook.) Nutt.

Buck Brush

Modern name

Ceanothus cuneatus (Hook.) Nutt.

Synonyms

Rhamnus cuneatus Hook.

An evergreen shrub 4 to 6 ft high, of rather loose, straggling habit; twigs and leaves at first downy. Leaves entire, opposite, pinnate-veined, leathery in texture, obovate to elliptical, rounded or indented at the apex, tapered or rounded at the base, 14 to 1 in. long, dull grey-green, paler beneath. Flowers dull white, or blue-tinted, produced on short axillary twigs, in short, dense, rounded corymbs, 12 to 34 in. across.

Spread over the whole length of California in a wild state, this species is, in some parts, little better than a pest. A Californian writer (G. Hansen) observes that ‘it clothes hillsides for miles and miles, and gives them a greyish green tint. Wherever man has done any cultivating, cleared an old wood road, cut a trail, ploughed a furrow in years past, or still keeps cultivating, this ceanothus follows him like a nettle or chickweed.’ For gardens it has little to recommend it, except that it is one of the hardiest species, and flowers freely during May.


Genus

Ceanothus

Other species in the genus