Ceanothus fendleri

Taxobox
name = "Ceanothus fendleri"

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image_width = 200px
image_caption =
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Rhamnaceae
genus = "Ceanothus"
species = "C. fendleri"
binomial = "Ceanothus fendleri"
binomial_authority = A. Gray

"Ceanothus fendleri" (Fendler ['s] ceanothus, Fendler ['s] buckbrush) is a species of flowering shrub native to northern Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas and the northeastern Texas panhandle, Utah, Colorado, eastern Wyoming, and western South Dakota.cite book | author=Elmore, Francis H. | title=Trees and Shrubs of the Southwest Uplands | publisher=Western National Parks Association | year=1976 | pages = 121 | isbn = 0-911408-41-X] USDA, NRCS. 2008. [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CEFE Profile] at the PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov), 30 June 2008). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.] Its typical habitat is pine forests from 1,500 to 3,000 meters (5000 to 10,000 feet) in altitude.

It seldom exceeds 1 m (3 ft) tall. The stems and twigs are grayish green when young, reddish brown when mature, armed with spines up to 2.5 cm (1 in) long. The leaves are grayish green and thick, with dense woolly hair on the underside.

The flowers are about 2 mm acrosscite web | title = Population Ecology of Fendler Ceanothus: Responses to Herbivory and Forest Restoration Treatments (Ph.D. thesis)| date = November, 2003 | publisher = Northern Arizona University | url = https://library.eri.nau.edu:8443/bitstream/2019/334/1/Huffman.2003.PopulationEcologyOfFendlerCeanothus.pdf | accessdate = 2008-07-01 | format = pdf See also cite journal | last = Huffman | first = David W. | coauthors = Margaret M. Moore | year = 2003 | title = Ungulate herbivory on buckbrush in an Arizona ponderosa pine forest | journal = Journal of Range Management | volume = 56 | pages = 358–363 | url = https://library.eri.nau.edu:8443/bitstream/2019/164/1/HuffmanAndMoore.2003.UngulateHerbivoryOnBuckbrushIn.pdf | accessdate = 2008-07-01 | format = pdf] and white, borne in thick clusters emanating from the leaf axils, particularly on the older stems. They all open at once, so the plant is covered with bloom. This usually happens in June or July, but may be any time from April to October according to the altitude and weather. As in other ceanothuses, there are five spoon-shaped or hooded petals, each partly covering a stamen.

The fruits are three-celled capsules, [Huffman "op. cit.", p. 36] pink and glossy, forming an approximate rounded equilateral triangle with the stem at the center. They typically ripen in August and September, and when dry, throw the seeds out forcefully. The seeds are glossy dark brown, about 2 mm across. [Huffman "op. cit.", pp. 36, 39]

Some have dried the leaves as a substitute for tea. The Acoma and Laguna Pueblo people ate the fruits. The Navajos combined this shrub and green gentian to make a medicine applied internally or externally, for "alarm and nervousness".

Deer are particularly fond of browsing on Fendler's ceanothus. In a study at Beaver Creek, Arizona, it was important to mule deer all year and constituted up to 6.9 percent of their summer diet [Urness, P.J., D.J. Neff, and R.K. Watkins. 1975. Nutritive value of mule deer forages on ponderosa pine summer range in Arizona. USDA Forest Service Research Note RM-304. Cited by Huffman "op. cit."] and might constitute even more where other forage species are less common.Huffman "op. cit.", 20] Elk also eat it, as porcupines, jackrabbits, and livestock do to a lesser extent.

References

External links

* [http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ceacun/all.html Ecology]
* [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Ceanothus+fendleri Photo gallery] of seeds

Gallery