Ceanothus roderickii

Pine hill ceanothus, Pine Hill Ceanothus

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

Pine hill ceanothus is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native shrub found in northern Sierra Nevada foothills in western El Dorado County, growing on rocky gabbro-derived substrates in chaparral and oak/pine woodland at elevations of 260 to 630 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white flowers tinged with blue in small umbel-like clusters less than one centimeter wide. Growing as a low, spreading mound less than half a meter tall, it features red-brown twigs and an occasionally arched, open growth habit that sometimes roots at its nodes. Its evergreen leaves are small and oblanceolate, typically 4 to 11 millimeters long, dull green on the upper surface and short-strigose between veins underneath, with entire margins and obtuse to slightly notched tips. The compact shrub forms mat- to mound-like clusters with erect leaves and distinctive knob-like stipules.

Habitat: Rocky, gabbro-derived substrates, chaparral, oak/pine woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: 260-630 m

Bioregions: n SNF (w El Dorado Co.).

California counties: El Dorado

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