Glorious Greenbark Ceanothus

Driving up south Refugio Road yesterday, the lower elevation ceanothus seemed to have all gone to seed. Higher up, though, there was a ceanothus celebration. Seeing patches of darker blue in among the white, I was hoping to find C. oliganthus, which grows in some places in the Santa Ynez Mountains.

But it was all Greenbark Ceanothus - white, cream and blue. The blue was lighter in real life than seen through my dark glasses.

Oxalis californica and Phacelia grandiflora were the most interesting finds of the day, while adding other more common species to the West Camino Cielo west and Refugio Road sets. Woolly Blue Curls is about to bloom, and Ceanothus cuneatus has started. Two Bramble Green Hairstreak were seen for the first time on West Camino Cielo.

Below is a Flickr slideshow of the Greenbark Ceanothus.

Posted on March 24, 2013 02:53 AM by lynnwatson