Ceanothus ferrisiae

Coyote ceanothus

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

Coyote ceanothus is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native shrub found in southeastern San Francisco Bay region in Santa Clara County, specifically on rocky serpentine slopes in chaparral at elevations of 120 to 320 meters. Flowering from January to May, this plant produces white flowers in compact umbel-like clusters approximately 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. Growing 1 to 2 meters tall with ascending to erect stems that are brown to gray-brown and becoming glabrous with age, it develops an open, somewhat irregular form. Its opposite evergreen leaves are obovate to widely elliptic, dark green on the upper surface and pale with short strigose hairs between prominent veins, measuring 12 to 25 millimeters long with entire or slightly toothed margins. The fruit is wrinkled and 6 to 9 millimeters wide, featuring short, thick erect horns 1 to 2 millimeters long.

Habitat: Rocky, serpentine slopes, chaparral

Bloom period: Jan-May

Elevation: 120-320 m

Bioregions: se SnFrB (Santa Clara Co.).

California counties: Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

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