Ceanothus gloriosus

Glory mat

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Glory mat is a California native shrub found along the central California coast in coastal scrub and chaparral habitats at low elevations. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces blue to blue-purple flowers in compact umbel-like clusters approximately 1 to 2.5 centimeters wide. Growing as a low, mat-like to occasionally erect shrub with spreading or arched stems that can root at the nodes, it develops green or red-brown twigs that are angled near their tips. Its evergreen leaves are widely elliptic or obovate, dark green on the upper surface and lighter underneath, typically 10 to 45 millimeters long with sharp-toothed margins and an obtuse or notched tip. The shrub produces smooth fruits 4 to 6 millimeters wide with small horns less than 1.5 millimeters long.

California counties: San Diego, Marin, Mendocino, Sonoma, San Luis Obispo

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