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Ceanothus
Also called New Jersey Tea, California Lilacs, Californian Lilac, New Jersey Teas
Ceanothus is a genus of about 50 to 60 shrubs and small trees, many native to western North America and often called California lilac or New Jersey tea. Most are full-sun, drought-tolerant plants that fix nitrogen and need excellent drainage.
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. The genus is native to North America, ranging from Canada and the United States south through Mexico to Panama, with the center of diversity in the California floristic province of the western United States and Mexico, where around ~42 species are endemic out of the roughly ~58 species in the genus. Most Ceanothus are shrubs, with some species rarely tree-like while others have a short mat-like habit. Species of Ceanothus can be evergreen or deciduous, may have thorns, and also have a diverse number of petal colors ranging from cream to deep blue to pink. Some reproduce strictly from seed, while others can resprout from their roots after a fire.
Plants in this genus are widely distributed and can be found on dry, sunny hillsides from coastal scrub lands to open forest clearings, from near sea level to 9,000 feet (2,700 m) in elevation. These plants are profusely distributed throughout the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia south through Colorado, the Cascades of Oregon and California, and the Coastal Ranges of California.
New Jersey tea · Feltleaf ceanothus · Buckbrush · Fendler's ceanothus · Point Reyes ceanothus · Carmel ceanothus · Jersey tea · Vail Lake ceanothus · Blueblossom
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ceanothus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
