Deer Brush

Description:

Bush with small, olive green leaves and clusters of light purple flowers with yellow anther. "Ceanothus integerrimus is a deciduous shrub from 1–4 metres (3.3–13 ft) tall with an open ascending to erect branch habit. It is a drought-tolerant phanerophyte. Nitrogen fixing actinomycete bacteria form root nodules on Ceanothus roots. Its stems are round yellow to a pale green in color with either small soft to straight stiff sharp hairs parallel to or in contact with the surface of the stem. The leaves are glossy, deciduous and 2.5–8 cm long. Leaves grow alternately on stems. The leaf petioles are less than 15 mm in length and the stipules are also deciduous. The leaf blade is lanceolate, elliptical or oblong to widely ovate in shape. Leaves can have one to two ribs from the base; they are also generally thin and have an acute to obtuse tip. Leaf margins are either entire or slightly dentate, more so towards the leaf tip. Leaf surfaces are light green and are ciliate or contain hairs visible only by magnification. The lower leaves are also hairy and lighter in color. The flowers are white or blue and rarely pink in color. They are produced in raceme clusters of 15 centimeters or less and contain both male and female organs. The fruit is a sticky valved capsule about 4–5 mm in diameter with a slight crest; the seed is ejected from the capsule after splitting." - Wikipedia

Habitat:

Along roadside at Palomar Mountain about 5,300 feet in elevation. This bush is native and grows at elevations between 0 and 7000 feet. "It grows in montane chaparral and woodlands regions, in hardwood forests of the west, and in fir, spruce, and Ponderosa Pine plant communities, being most abundant in the California chaparral and woodlands and Sierra Nevada" - Wikipedia