Ceanothus velutinus

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Ceanothus velutinus
Ceanothus velutinus 4687.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Ceanothus
Species:
C. velutinus
Binomial name
Ceanothus velutinus

Ceanothus velutinus, with the common names snowbrush ceanothus, red root, tobacco brush, and sticky laurel, [1] is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado.

Contents

Description

The oval leaves have tiny teeth with glands along the edges. Ceanothus velutinus 4694.JPG
The oval leaves have tiny teeth with glands along the edges.

Ceanothus velutinus grows up to 4 meters tall but generally remains under three, and forms colonies of individuals which tangle together to form nearly impenetrable thickets. [2] The aromatic evergreen leaves are alternately arranged, each up to 8 centimeters long. The leaves are oval in shape with minute glandular teeth along the edges, and shiny green and hairless on the top surface.

The plentiful inflorescences are long clusters of white flowers. The fruit is a three-lobed capsule a few millimeters long which snaps open explosively to expel the three seeds onto the soil, where they may remain in a buried seed bank for well over 200 years before sprouting. [2] The seed is coated in a very hard outer layer that must be scarified, generally by wildfire, before it can germinate. [2] Like most other Ceanothus, this species fixes nitrogen via actinomycetes in its root nodules. [2]

Range and Habitat

Ceanothus velutinus is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in hills and mountains in several habitat types including open coniferous forest and chaparral, often in rocky soils. [3]

Uses

Deer and elk browse the plant during winter. [4]

Some Plateau Indian tribes drank a boil of this plant to induce sweating as a treatment for colds, fevers, and influenza. Leaves were also used when rinsing to help prevent dandruff. [5]

Ceanothus velutinus was known as "red root" by many Native American tribes due to the color of the inner root bark, and was used as a medicine for treating lymphatic disorders, ovarian cysts, fibroid tumors, and tonsillitis.

Related Research Articles

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Ceanothus is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceanothus. "Ceanothus" comes from Ancient Greek: κεάνωθος (keanōthos), which was applied by Theophrastus to an Old World plant believed to be Cirsium arvense.

<i>Rubus parviflorus</i> Berry and plant

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<i>Philadelphus lewisii</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Adenostoma fasciculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Adenostoma fasciculatum, commonly known as chamise or greasewood, is a flowering plant native to California and Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the California chaparral ecoregion. Chamise produces a specialized lignotuber underground and at the base of the stem, known as a burl, that allow it to resprout after fire has off burned its stems. It is noted for its greasy, resinous foliage, and its status as one of California's most iconic chaparral shrubs.

<i>Frangula californica</i> Species of tree

Frangula californica is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family native to western North America. It produces edible fruits and seeds. It is commonly known as California coffeeberry and California buckthorn.

<i>Rosa nutkana</i> Species of plant

Rosa nutkana, the Nootka rose, bristly rose, or wild rose is a 0.6–3.0-metre-tall (2–10-foot) perennial shrub in the rose family (Rosaceae).

<i>Ceanothus integerrimus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus integerrimus, known by the common name deer brush, is a species of woody shrub in the family Rhamnaceae, native to the western United States in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington. It grows in montane chaparral and woodlands regions, in hardwood forests, and in fir, spruce, and Ponderosa pine plant communities, being most abundant in the California chaparral and woodlands and Sierra Nevada.

<i>Eriogonum fasciculatum</i> Species of flowering shrub

Eriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows variably from a patchy mat to a wide shrub, with the flowers turning a rusty color after blooming. This plant is of great benefit across its various habitats, providing an important food resource for a diversity of insect and mammal species. It also provides numerous ecosystem services for humans, including erosion control, post-fire mitigation, increases in crop yields when planted in hedgerows, and high habitat restoration value.

<i>Salix scouleriana</i> Species of willow

Salix scouleriana is a species of willow native to northwestern North America. Other names occasionally used include fire willow, Nuttall willow, mountain willow, and black willow.

<i>Arctostaphylos patula</i> Species of flowering plant

Arctostaphylos patula is a species of manzanita known by the common name greenleaf manzanita. This manzanita is native to western North America where it grows in coniferous forests at moderate to high elevations.

<i>Ceanothus ophiochilus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus ophiochilus is a rare species of flowering shrub known by the common name Vail Lake ceanothus, native to Southern California. It was not described until 1991.

<i>Balsamorhiza sagittata</i> Species of flowering plant

Balsamorhiza sagittata is a North American species of flowering plant in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae known by the common name Arrowleaf Balsamroot. Also sometimes called Oregon sunflower, it is widespread across western Canada and much of the western United States.

<i>Ceanothus cordulatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus cordulatus is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common names mountain whitethorn and whitethorn ceanothus. It is native to California and adjacent sections of Oregon, Nevada, and Baja California, where it grows on mountain ridges and other forested areas. This is a spreading shrub growing usually wider than tall and up to about 1.5 meters. The stems are gray, with the twigs yellow-green in color and fuzzy in texture when new. The evergreen leaves are alternately arranged and up to 3 centimeters long. Each is oval in shape with three ribs and generally not toothed. The leaves may be hairy or not. The inflorescence is panicle-shaped, up to about 4 centimeters long. The 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. It has three valves inside, each containing a seed. It is a nitrogen-fixing plant, that is uniquely abundant in old-growth forest conditions when compared to similar types of nitrogen-fixing plants. In addition, Ceanothus cordulatus is known to be an important source of nitrogen patches for significantly longer times than other similar post-disturbance successional shrubs, following disturbance events such as forest fires.

<i>Ceanothus pauciflorus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus pauciflorus, known by the common name Mojave ceanothus, is a species of flowering shrub in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It is native to the Southwestern United States and Mexico, where it grows primarily in shrubland communities at moderate to high elevations. It is characterized by oppositely arranged leaves, corky stipules and white flowers. It was formerly known as Ceanothus greggii.

<i>Ceanothus pumilus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus pumilus is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common names dwarf ceanothus and Siskiyou mat.

<i>Ceanothus sanguineus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus sanguineus is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common name redstem ceanothus. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Montana to far northern California; it is also known from Michigan. It grows in temperate coniferous forest habitat in forest openings amidst the conifers. This is an erect shrub approaching 3 meters in maximum height. Its stem is red to purple in color, its woody parts green and hairless when new. The deciduous leaves are alternately arranged and up to about 10 centimeters long. They are thin, light green, oval, and generally edged with glandular teeth. The undersides are sometimes hairy. The inflorescence is a cluster of white flowers up to about 12 centimeters long. The fruit is a three-lobed smooth capsule about 4 millimeters long. This shrub is an important food plant for wild ungulates such as the Rocky Mountain Elk, it is browsed eagerly by many types of livestock, and the seed is consumed by many types of animals.

<i>Paxistima myrsinites</i> Species of flowering plant

Paxistima myrsinites is a species of shrub in the family Celastraceae. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern Mexico to the Rocky Mountains, where it grows in forests, often in the understory.

<i>Ribes cereum</i> Species of currant

Ribes cereum is a species of currant known by the common names wax currant and squaw currant; the pedicellare variety is known as whisky currant. The species is native to western North America.

<i>Rosa woodsii</i> Species of flowering plant

Rosa woodsii is a species of wild rose known by the common names Woods' rose, interior rose, common wild rose, mountain rose, pear-hip rose, and prairie rose.

<i>Ceanothus herbaceus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus herbaceus, also known as Jersey tea, is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae and is similar to Ceanothus americanus and Ceanothus sanguineus. It is a perennial shrub which is native to North America.

References

  1. "Snowbrush, Ceanothus velutinus". Native Plants PNW. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Forest Service Fire Ecology
  3. "The Jepson Herbarium".
  4. Fagan, Damian (2019). Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert. Guilford, CT: FalconGuides. p. 80. ISBN   978-1-4930-3633-2. OCLC   1073035766.
  5. Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 352. ISBN   0-295-97119-3.