BUCKTHORN FAMILY 155 



1. C. cuneatus Nutt. Wedge-leaf Ceanothus. Leaves 

 thick, pale, obovate or oblanceolate, wedge-shaped at base, 

 entire, Y% to 24 m - l° n g> whitish hairy beneath. Flowers 

 white. Capsule short-oblong, with 3 roundish knobs near 

 summit. 



This rigidly branched shrub, with its pale, brittle foliage, is 

 a chief component of the chaparral of the foothill districts, 

 ranging up into Hetch Hetchy Valley and even reaching the 

 Yosemite, where it grows on warm slopes near Indian Canon. 



2. C. prostratus Benth. Squaw Carpet. Mahala Mats. 

 Leaves thick, obovate, narrowed at base, rigidly toothed 

 around the blunt summit, / 2 to 3^ in. long, mostly glabrous. 

 Flowers blue. Capsule globose, prominently horned. 



The green, leafy mats of this Ceanothus often cover slopes 

 of considerable size and are very decorative. It reaches its 

 upper limits at Chinquapin and on the ridges back of Hazel 

 Green (6000 ft.), where it grows with the next species. The 

 Indians and stockmen of Butte and Plumas counties prepare a 

 tea from the roots and bruised foliage which they use as a 

 remedy for kidney troubles and as a blood purifier. 



3. C. diversifolius Kell. Leaves thin, ovate to elliptic or 

 obovate, finely glandular-toothed all around, l /> to \ l / 2 in. long, 

 softly hairy. Flowers blue. Capsule globose, each lobe 

 sharply ridged on the back. 



The leafy stems of this species creep along the ground, 

 forming loose mats which are especially beautiful in May and 

 June when partially hidden by the blue flowers. The foliage 

 is much softer than that of the Squaw Carpet. It is abundant 

 in the lower part of the pine belt, especially from Hetch 

 Hetchy to the Merced Grove, Yosemite, and the Mariposa 

 Grove, but it is not common outside of our district. 



4. C. cordulatus Kell. Snow-bush. Leaves rather thin, 

 pale, ovate, obtuse, minutely toothed or entire, l / 2 to 1 in. long, 

 *4 to % i n - wide, 3-nerved from the base, soft-hairy at least 

 beneath. Flowers white. Capsule evidently lobed at top, 

 slightly 3-crested. 



The Snow-bush is a low, flat-topped shrub with olive or 

 grayish branches, the rigid twigs often spine-like. Its low 

 stature and compact growth are the result of the heavy bur- 

 den of snow which the shrubs are obliged to carry for sev- 

 eral months in the year, but whether it is because of this that 

 the species has been called Snow-bush, or because of the 

 snow-like appearance when in full bloom, we are unable to 

 say. It forms almost impenetrable thickets at altitudes of 



