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Ceanothus greggii var. vestitus

Ceanothus greggii A. Gray var. vestitus (Greene) McMinn

Mojave Ceanothus, Desert Ceanothus

Rhamnaceae (Buckthorn Family)

Synonym(s): Ceanothus greggii ssp. vestitus, Ceanothus vestitus

USDA Symbol: CEGRV

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Desert ceanothus is an erect, rigidly branched, half-evergreen shrub from 3 to 6-1/2 ft. tall. Leaves are small and leathery - grayish-green above, gray beneath. The showy flower clusters are composed of small, creamy-white to bluish flowers.

There are dozens of species of Ceanothus in North America. A few reach tree size, but most are shrubs and the majority occur in the West.

The species name “greggii” was named for Josiah Gregg, (1806-1850). He was born in Overton County, Tennessee. In the summer of 1841 and again in the winter of 1841-42 he traveled through Texas, up the Red River valley, and later from Galveston to Austin and by way of Nacogdoches to Arkansas. He took note of Texas geology, trees, prevalent attitudes, and politics. At the same time, Gregg began compiling his travel notes into a readable manuscript. His “Commerce of the Prairies”, which came out in two volumes in 1844, was an immediate success. In 1848 he joined a botanical expedition to western Mexico and California, during which he corresponded with and sent specimens to the eminent botanist George Engelman in St. Louis. Subsequently, the American Botanical Society added the Latin name “greggii” in his honor to twenty-three species of plants. Gregg died on February 25, 1850, as a result of a fall from his horse.