Ceanothus cuneatus
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Ceanothus cuneatus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Infraspecifics
Other taxa in genus
- Ceanothus americanus
- Ceanothus arboreus
- Ceanothus 'Autumnal Blue'
- Ceanothus 'Burkwoodii'
- Ceanothus caeruleus
- Ceanothus 'Concha'
- Ceanothus crassifolius
- Ceanothus cyaneus
- Ceanothus × delilianus
- Ceanothus dentatus
- Ceanothus fendleri
- Ceanothus foliosus
- Ceanothus gloriosus
- Ceanothus herbaceus
- Ceanothus impressus
- Ceanothus incanus
- Ceanothus integerrimus
- Ceanothus megacarpus
- Ceanothus × mendocinensis
- Ceanothus oliganthus
- Ceanothus papillosus
- Ceanothus parryi
- Ceanothus parvifolius
- Ceanothus prostratus
- Ceanothus 'Puget Blue'
- Ceanothus purpureus
- Ceanothus sanguineus
- Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
- Ceanothus × veitchianus
- Ceanothus velutinus
An evergreen shrub 4 to 6 ft high, of rather loose, straggling habit; twigs and leaves at first downy. Leaves entire, opposite, pinnate-veined, leathery in texture, obovate to elliptical, rounded or indented at the apex, tapered or rounded at the base, 1⁄4 to 1 in. long, dull grey-green, paler beneath. Flowers dull white, or blue-tinted, produced on short axillary twigs, in short, dense, rounded corymbs, 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. across.
Spread over the whole length of California in a wild state, this species is, in some parts, little better than a pest. A Californian writer (G. Hansen) observes that ‘it clothes hillsides for miles and miles, and gives them a greyish green tint. Wherever man has done any cultivating, cleared an old wood road, cut a trail, ploughed a furrow in years past, or still keeps cultivating, this ceanothus follows him like a nettle or chickweed.’ For gardens it has little to recommend it, except that it is one of the hardiest species, and flowers freely during May.
var. ramulosus Greene
Synonyms
Ceanothus ramulosus (Greene) McMinn
Editorial Note
Bean treated this variety at specific rank, as C. ramulosus.
Leaves usually less crowded than in var. rigidus; branchlets arching and more flexible. Flowers paler, in shades of lavender, pale blue, or white.
This species has a wide distribution in the Coast Range, while var. rigidus, as now understood, is confined to the Monterey peninsula. McMinn (Ceanothus, 1942) considers that some plants grown in Britain as Ceanothus rigidus or var. pallens really belong to this species.
var. rigidus (Nutt.) Hoover
Synonyms
Ceanothus rigidus Nutt.
Ceanothus rigidus var. pallens Sprague
Editorial Note
Bean treated this variety at specific rank, as Ceanothus rigidus.
A densely branched evergreen shrub, usually low and spreading in the wild state but reaching 12 ft on a wall, with abundant foliage closely packed on short, stiff lateral branchlets. Leaves opposite, pinnate-veined, obovate to rounded in general outline, 1⁄8 to 1⁄2 in. long, wedge-shaped to rounded at the base, often truncate or retuse at the apex, dark glossy green above, minutely downy beneath, mostly toothed, at least near the apex, more rarely entire. Flowers bright blue to rich purplish blue, in sessile or short-stalked umbels. Bot. Mag., t. 4664.
Native of California, found only on the Monterey peninsula, whence it was introduced by Hartweg for The Royal Horticultural Society in 1847. In the last edition of this work two forms of this species were described. One, which matches Nuttall’s type, was shown by Miss Willmott in 1915 and became known as the ‘Warley variety’; it has rather rounded, scarcely toothed leaves and short-stalked umbels. The other, commoner in gardens at that time, was introduced by Lobb sometime between 1849 and 1857, when collecting for Veitch’s nurseries: it has narrower leaves, toothed near the apex, longer-stalked umbels and flowers of a paler shade. This form was distinguished by Sprague as var. pallens.
This is one of the most beautiful of ceanothuses but, unfortunately, is also one of the tenderest. Against a wall at Kew it grows and flowers well every season, but in very hard winters is injured or killed even with that protection. It has no chance at all in the open. Like some other species, it is not long-lived, and the stock should be renewed occasionally by means of cuttings. It flowers from April to June, and will reach a height of 12 ft on a wall.
