Ceanothus arcuatus

Arching ceanothus

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Arching ceanothus is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, southern Cascade Ranges, and northern Sierra Nevada Mountains on open rocky slopes and in montane forest at elevations of 580 to 2,140 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces white to light blue flowers in compact umbel-like clusters less than 1.5 centimeters long. Growing as a dense, mound-like shrub 30 to 100 centimeters tall with spreading to ascending brown to gray-brown stems, it forms a compact and intricate growth habit. Its opposite evergreen leaves are small, measuring 7 to 12 millimeters long and 2 to 5 millimeters wide, with elliptic to obovate shapes and dull green surfaces. The fruit is a white, slightly three-ridged capsule about 4 to 6 millimeters long with slender horns 1.5 to 2 millimeters long.

Habitat: Open rocky slopes, montane forest

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 580-2140 m

Bioregions: KR, n NCoR, s CaRH, n&ampc SNH

California counties: Humboldt, Trinity, Del Norte, El Dorado, Madera, Plumas, Siskiyou, Sierra, Shasta, Tuolumne, Tehama, Calaveras, Mendocino, Placer, Mariposa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.