Ceanothus otayensis

Otay mountain ceanothus, Otay Mountain Ceanothus

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Otay mountain ceanothus is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native shrub found in southern Peninsular Ranges and southern Southern Coast Ranges, specifically on Otay Mountain, San Miguel Mountain, and Miramar in rocky chaparral slopes at elevations of 120 to 1,100 meters. Flowering from January to April, this plant produces pale blue flowers in compact umbel-like clusters 0.5 to 2 centimeters long. Growing as an erect, open shrub less than 2 meters tall with ascending gray-brown twigs, it features distinctively structured leaves. Its opposite, evergreen leaves are obovate to oblong-obovate, 5 to 12 millimeters long, with a dull green upper surface and paler lower surface, featuring small teeth in the distal third and a truncate to notched tip. The compact shrub has thick, rolled leaf margins and develops small fruits approximately 4 to 6 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, chaparral

Bloom period: Jan-Apr

Elevation: 120-1100 m

Bioregions: s PR, s SCo (Otay Mtn, San Miguel Mtn, Miramar)

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