Ceanothus pauciflorus

Mojave ceanothus, Mojave Ceanothus

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Mojave ceanothus is a California native shrub found in southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, Transverse, Peninsular, and eastern Sierra Nevada, and Desert Mountains in chaparral, woodland, and conifer forest at elevations of 550 to 2,600 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces white flowers in compact umbel-like clusters about 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. Growing 0.8 to 2 meters tall with ascending to erect stems that are intricately branched and covered in pale gray to whitish, dense short hairs, the shrub forms an open, distinctive shape. Its opposite, evergreen leaves are oblanceolate to nearly round, 5 to 20 millimeters long, gray-green to yellow-green, with a concave upper surface and occasionally 3 to 5 sharp teeth near the tip. The fruit is approximately 3 to 5 millimeters wide with subtle ridges and minimal to no horns.

Habitat: Slopes, flats, chaparral, woodland, conifer forest

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 550-2600 m

Bioregions: s SNH, Teh, TR, PR, SNE, DMtns

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