About Ceanothus cordulatus Kellogg
Ceanothus cordulatus is a shrub species in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, commonly known as mountain whitethorn and whitethorn ceanothus. It is native to California and adjacent parts of Oregon, Nevada, and Baja California, where it grows on mountain ridges and other forested areas. This is a spreading shrub that usually grows wider than it is tall, reaching up to around 1.5 meters in size. Its stems are gray, while new twigs are yellow-green and have a fuzzy texture. The evergreen leaves are alternately arranged, grow up to 3 centimeters long, are generally oval-shaped with three ribs, and usually do not have toothed edges. Leaves may be either hairy or hairless. The plant's inflorescence is shaped like a panicle and grows up to about 4 centimeters long. Its flowers are white to off-white, with five sepals and five petals. The fruit is a rough, ridged capsule up to half a centimeter long, with three internal valves each holding one seed. Ceanothus cordulatus is a nitrogen-fixing plant. It is uniquely abundant in old-growth forest conditions when compared to other similar nitrogen-fixing plants. After disturbance events such as forest fires, it also acts as an important source of nitrogen patches for significantly longer periods than other similar post-disturbance successional shrubs.
