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Ceanothus crassifolius

Modern name

Ceanothus crassifolius Torr.

An evergreen shrub of dense habit, attaining a height of about 12 ft in the wild. Leaves leathery, opposite, mostly elliptic, obtuse or rounded at the apex, up to 1[1/4] in. long, olive-green above, their undersurface (and the young stems) clad with a white wool, margins revolute, rarely plane, sharply toothed, rarely almost entire. Flowers white, borne in early spring in almost sessile axillary clusters up to about [3/4] in. long.

A native of the mountains of southern California; introduced to Kew in 1980 by means of seeds received from the Santa Ana Botanic Garden. It is untested as yet, and might succeed best in eastern England, as it inhabits dry, open slopes in the wild. This species was grown and praised by Lester Rowntree, and is mentioned in her book Flowering Shrubs of California, p. 55 (1939).


Genus

Ceanothus

Other species in the genus