Ceanothus ophiochilus (Vail Lake Ceanothus)

Overview

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Critically Endangered

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Vail Lake Ceanothus

Description

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Family Rhamnaceae

Deciduous or evergreen , often thorny trees , shrubs , woody climbers , or lianas, rarely herbs. Leaves simple , petiolate , alternate or opposite, pinnately veined or 3-5-veined, entire to serrate, sometimes much reduced; stipules small, caducous or persistent , sometimes transformed into spines. Flowers yellowish to greenish, rarely brightly colored , small, bisexual or unisexual , rarely polygamous, (4 or) 5-merous, hypogynous to epigynous , in mostly axillary , sessile or pedunculate cymes, or reduced to few in fascicles. Calyx tube patelliform or hemispherical to tubular , sometimes absent, at rim with calyx, corolla, and stamens; sepals 4 or 5, valvate in bud, triangular, erect or ± recurved during anthesis , adaxially often distinctly keeled , alternate with petals. Petals 4 or 5, rarely absent, usually smaller than sepals, concave or hooded , rarely nearly flat, often shortly clawed. Stamens 4 or 5, antepetalous and often ± enclosed by petals; filaments thin, adnate to bases of petals; anthers minute, versatile or not, 2(or 4) -celled, dehiscing by longitudinal slits, usually introrse . Disk intrastaminal , nectariferous , thin to ± fleshy , entire or lobed , glabrous or rarely pubescent , free from ovary or tightly surrounding it, or adnate to calyx tube. Ovary superior to inferior, (1 or) 2-4-loculed, with 1(or 2) ovules per locule; ovules anatropous , basal and erect; styles simple or ± deeply 3-lobed or 3-cleft. Fruit either an indehiscent, rarely explosively dehiscent , sometimes winged , schizocarpic capsule, or a ± fleshy drupe with 1-4 indehiscent, rarely dehiscent, pyrenes (stones ) . Seeds with thin, oily albumen, sometimes exalbuminous ; embryo large, oily, straight or rarely bent.

About 50 genera and more than 900 species: almost cosmopolitan , mainly in subtropical to tropical areas; 13 genera and 137 species (82 endemic, one introduced ) in China.

Former classifications usually placed Rhamnaceae in the Rhamnales, together with Vitaceae and Leeaceae (Suessenguth in Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 2, 20d. 1953), or together with Elaeagnaceae (Thorne, Bot. Rev. 58: 225-348. 1992) . Orders such as Celastrales, Urticales, and Euphorbiales have often been considered as closely related groups. Recent analyses of DNA sequences strongly supported including the family in the Rosales, beside the closest relatives Barbeyaceae and Dirachmaceae (see Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 141: 399-436. 2003) . Suessenguth (loc. cit. ) grouped the family into five tribes , mainly characterized by fruit characters. Richardson et al. (Kew Bull . 55: 311-340. 2000; Amer. J. Bot. 87: 1309-1324. 2000) revised this tribal classification on the basis of a phylogenetic analysis using rbcL and trnL-F sequences of the plastid genome. Now 11 tribes are recognized, of which four are represented in the Flora area.

The bark , leaves, and fruit of several species of Rhamnus have been used as laxatives , notably R. cathartica and R. frangula. Diverse Old World species of Rhamnus provide yellow and green dyes as well as drugs. Timber of Alphitonia, Colubrina, Hovenia, and Ziziphus species is used for construction, fine furniture, carving, lathework, and musical instruments. Many Ziziphus species yield edible fruit; among them, Z. jujuba (Chinese jujube) and Z. mauritiana (Indian jujube) are cultivated on a commercial scale. Hovenia dulcis is also grown for its edible, fleshy inflorescence stalks . Species of Hovenia, Paliurus, and Rhamnus are cultivated as ornamentals .Yilin Chen & Carsten Schirarend "Rhamnaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 12 Page 115,355. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Physical Description

Habit: Shrub

Flowers: Bloom Period: January, February. • Flower Color: light blue, pale pink

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 4-6' tall.

Habitat

This species is found in dry habitats along ridgetops and north to northeast-facing slopes in chamise chaparral (Boyd, et. al. 1991). Vail Lake ceanothus is restricted to shallow soils originating from ultra-basic parent rock and deeply weathered gabbro, which are both phosphorous-deficient (Boyd, et al. 1991; Bauder 1998).

Biology

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Reproduction

Vail Lake ceanothus produces umbel-like clusters of pale blue (rarely pinkish lavender) flowers from mid-February to March (Boyd, et al. 1991). Published literature regarding pollinators is not available for this species. The genus Ceanothus is a generalist regarding pollinators: copious small pollinators such as beetles and wasps were observed inside flowers in the field (Clifford Schmidt, pers. comm. , 1999). This species lacks a burl and does not reproduce vegetatively after a wildfire. An obligate seeder, this species is dependent on occasional fires for seed germination (Boyd, et al. 1991).

Dispersal : The seed pods of this genus mature from late-May to mid-June, building up tension as they ripen and flinging their seed in all directions as the pods dehisce (Smith 1994).

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 4-6' apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- Kingdom: Plantae () - Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae () - Cavalier-Smith, 1981
    - Phylum: Magnoliophyta () - Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Flowering Plants
      - Subphylum: Euphyllophytina ()
        Infraphylum: Radiatopses () - Kenrick & Crane, 1997
        Class: Magnoliopsida () - Brongniart, 1843 - Dicotyledons
        Subclass: Rosidae () - Takhtajan, 1967
        Superorder: Rhamnanae () - Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
        Order: Rhamnales () - Dumortier, 1829
        Family: Rhamnaceae () - Durande, 1782, Nom. Cons. - Buckthorn Family
        Subfamily: Pooideae ()
        Tribe: Rhamneae ()
        Genus: Ceanothus () - Linnaeus, 1753
        Specific epithet: ophiochilus - S.D.Boyd
        Botanical name: - Ceanothus ophiochilus S.D.Boyd

Unambiguous Synonyms

Ceanothus ophiochilus Boyd, Ross & Arnseth

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication : Phytologia 70:28. 1991

Name verified on 23-Oct-1999 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 04-Feb-2000

Similar Species

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Genetics: Vail lake ceanothus is able to hybridize with Ceanothus crassifolius (Boyd, et al. 1991) and hybrids have been observed at all three populations (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998). While the hybrid individuals at Vail Lake are limited to the margins, the hybridization rate is much higher for the Agua Tibia Wilderness Area populations: more than 50% of the northern Agua Tibia population exhibits intermediate characteristics (Boyd and Banks 1995).

Members of the genus Ceanothus

There are approximately 465 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

Bibliography

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Bauder, E. 1998. Exotics of Southern California�s vernal pools and other specialized habitats.
Boyd, S. and D. Banks. 1995. A Botanical Assessment of the Agua Tibia Wilderness Area, Cleveland National Forest, California. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California. 89 pp.
Boyd, S., T. Ross and L. Arnseth. 1991. Ceanothus ophiochilus (Rhamnaceae): A Distinctive, Narrowly Endemic Species from Riverside County, California. Phytologia 70(1):28-41.
California Department of Fish and Game. 1993. Report to the Fish and Game Commission on the Status of Vail Lake Ceanothus (Ceanothus ophiochilus). Unpublished report, Natural Heritage Division. California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, California.
California Natural Diversity Data Base. 1998. Ceanothus ophiochilus. Unpublished report, Natural Heritage Division, California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, California.
Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: Higher plants of California. (F CalifJep)
Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. (L US Can ed2)
Schmidt, C.L. 1993. Ceanothus, pp. 932-938 in Hickman, J.C., editor, The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Skinner, M.W. and B.M. Pavlik. 1994. California Native Plant Society�s Inventory of Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants of California. Special Publication No. 1, 5th edition. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento.
Smith, N. 1994. Growing Natives: The Smaller Ceanothus. Fremontia 11(4):27-28.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1998. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; endangered or threatened status for three plants from chaparral and scrub of southwestern California. Federal Register 63:54956
United States Fish and Wildlife Service. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Species Information: threatened and endangered animals and plants - on-line resource. (US Fish & Wildl List)
Chen Yi-ling and Chou Pan-kai. 1982. Rhamnaceae. In: Chen Yi-ling, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 48(1): i-vi, 1-169.

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors

Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2007. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed March 24, 2007.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program, Understanding the Plants and Animals of Western Riverside County MSHCP University of California, Berkeley and Center for Conservation Biology, University of California, Riverside.
MBLWHOI Library: Universal Biological Index and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 17, 2008.
The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Jan 19, 2007.
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 26, 2008)
USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:

Berkeley Natural History Museums: University and Jepson Herbaria DiGIR provider
USDA PLANTS: USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2670830
Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-506889
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 865150
Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:958918-1
GRIN Nomen Number: 415197

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 506889
International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 274243-2
Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDRHA041M0
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Species Identifier: Q3AH
U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: CEOP
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 29247

Ceanothus ophiochilus

Overview

Common Names

Description

Family Rhamnaceae

Physical Description

Size/Age/Growth

Habitat

Biology

Reproduction

Growth

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

Notes

Similar Species

Members of the genus Ceanothus

Bibliography

More Info

Notes

Contributors

Data Sources

Identifiers

Footnotes