318 CEANOTHUS 



Leaves alternate, broadly ovate, i| to 3 ins. long, more or less conspicuously 

 three-veined, dull glaucous green," and not toothed at the margin ; stalk to 

 | in. long. Flowers rather variable in colour, from white to several shades of 

 pale blue, produced in cylindrical racemes, a large number of which at the 

 end of each branch form a fine panicle of blossom 9 to 12 ins. long and 3 to 

 4 ins. broad. 



Native of California, where it was discovered by David Douglas in 1833, 

 but not introduced till about twenty years later. It flowers in June, and is one 

 of the most elegant wall plants of that season, producing its long, graceful 

 panicles in great profusion. It needs the shelter of a wall. In a wild state it 

 occurs through the entire length of California, and shows considerable varia- 

 tion. The most distinct form is a small-leaved one var. PARVIFOLIUS (C. 

 parvifolius, Trelease) ; C. NEVADENSIS, Kellogg^ is probably also a form of 

 this species. 



C. OVATUS, Desfontames. 



A deciduous shrub, 2 to 3 ft. high, with viscid, slightly downy young stems. 

 Leaves alternate, narrow oval, I to 2^ ins. long, \ to 1 in. wide, bluntish or pointed 

 at the apex, tapered or rounded at the base ; smooth and glossy, or slightly 

 hairy beneath ; stalk slender, \ to \ in. long. Flowers white, produced in 

 short-stalked, rounded clusters, the whole forming a loose panicle. 



Native of S.E. and Central United States. It differs from C. americanus 

 by its smoother, differently shaped leaves, never heart-shaped at the base, 

 and shorter-stalked flower clusters. It flowers from June onwards, but the true 

 plant is not common in gardens. 



Var. PUBESCENS, Torrey (C. pubescens, Rydberg], is similar to the type in 

 habit, but the young shoots and the under-surface of the leaves are permanently 

 downy. 



C. PAPILLOSUS, Torrey. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 4815.) 



An evergreen shrub, up 10 or 12 ft. high, with round, very downy branchlets. 

 Leaves alternate, pinnately veined, short-stalked, from \ to 2 ins. long, \ to \ 

 in. wide, narrowly oblong, the margin decurved and set with glandular teeth, 

 the upper surface shining and furnished with conspicuous wart-like excres- 

 cences (papillae), which are also glandular. Flowers in terminal or axillary 

 racemes, i to \\ ins. long, and of a delicate shade of blue. 



Discovered in 1833 by David Douglas in California ; introduced by W. 

 Lobb about 1850. It attains its fullest development in the Santa Cruz 

 Mountains, forming on the lower parts of that range a densely branched shrub 

 with very papillose leaves. Whilst this papillose surface of the leaves furnishes 

 the most noticeable character of the species in its typical form, it does not 

 appear to be a constant one. Higher up the same mountains other 

 Ceanothuses appear with much smaller leaves, more decurved at the margins, 

 and without papillae on the surface ; the flowers, too, are deeper blue. These 

 are considered to be forms of C. papillosus, one of them possibly that 

 mysterious plant figured in September 1854. in the Botanical Magazine, t. 

 4806, with dense, globular corymbs of mazarine-blue flowers, under the name 

 of C. FLORIBUNDUS, Hooker. It was introduced by W. Lobb, but has never since 

 apparently been found wild ; the only specimen in the Kew Herbarium is the 

 one from Messrs Veitch's nursery at Exeter, from which the above-mentioned 

 plate was made in 1854. Descendants of the original plant may be still in 

 cultivation, but it is doubtful. 



