FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 409 



Blue Myrtle." 



Ceani/tlms thyrsiflorus Eschseholtz. 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. 



Variable in size, from a fruiting shrub from 2 to 4 feet high to a very short, 

 thick-trunked, bushy tree from 12 to 25 feet 1 1 i ir 1 1 and from 4 to 12 inches in diam- 

 eter ; occasionally somewhat taller. Thin trunk bark, clear reddish brown, 

 with thin scales. The branches, and especially the twigs, are prominently 

 angled. Mature leaves (tig. 104) are evergreen, smooth and shiny on their top 

 sides, lighter green beneath, and minutely hairy, particularly on the midveins. 

 Fragrant flowers, usually light blue, sometimes white. Mature fruit (fig. 194), 

 ripening from mid-summer to early autumn, is dead black and smooth. 



Wood pale yellowish brown and usually with a very thin layer of sapwood; 

 moderately heavy, fine-grained. Of no economic use. 



Longevity. — Not fully determined. One tree 5 inches in diameter showed an 

 age of 12 years. 



RANGE. 

 Western California (from Mendocino County to San Luis Re3* River). 



OCCURRENCE. 



On protected slopes, edges of forests, and near streams ; at south, on exposed border of 

 sea. here only a shrub. Largest on hills above Noyo River swamps (Mendocino County), 

 and in redwoods on Santa Cruz Mountains. In moist or dryish gravelly and sandy soils, 

 scattered with Douglas fir, redwood, oaks, western dogwood, vine maple, and willows. 



Climatic Conditions. — Not determined. 



Tolerance. — Fairly tolerant of shade, which it prefers especially- in youth, but with 

 greater soil moisture exists in open. Seeding habits and reproduction not fully known. 

 Appears to seed plentifully about every year. 



Tree Myrtle. 

 Ceanothus arioreus <Jreene. 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. 



Tree myrtle, an island species, has no common field name. The one here 

 given, for want of a better one, is derived from the technical name. 



As a rule, a low, short-trunked. bushy tree from 10 to 20 feet high, with a 

 deep brownish, scaly trunk from 3 to 8 inches thick; the small bark scales are 

 rather thick, and squarish: Young twigs, faintly angled, grayish with minute 

 down, and later becoming reddish. Mature leaves (fig. 195) thick ish, deep 

 green, with exceedingly fine, soft hairs on the top sides, and thickly woolly 

 beneath; leaf stems also more or less hairy; margins of leaves with blackish, 

 gland-tipped teeth. Pale blue flowers in rather large, dense clusters from early 

 to late summer. Mature fruit (fig. 195) is wrinkled and black. Wood, pale 

 brown, tinged with red: very thin, whitish sapwood: fine-grained, dense, hard 

 and heavy. Of no economic use. 



Longevity. — Not fully determined. Very persistent slow grower, giving evi- 

 dence of being rather long-lived. One tree 2; inches in diameter showed an 

 age of twenty-seven years. 



"Also called "blue blossoms," "California lilac," and "tick-tree." 



