Mountain Whitethorn
Ceanothus cordulatus
Mountain whitethorn is a dense, spiny, nitrogen-fixing ceanothus of western mountain forests, frosting slopes with white bloom after snowmelt. A fire-following pollinator magnet for high, dry ground.
- Family
- Rhamnaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 8–8 ft
- Spacing
- 4–8 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- May, June, July
- Bloom colors
- white
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, butterflies, songbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~45 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- specimen, hedge or screen, foundation, erosion control
- Native states
- CA, NV, OR
Related native plants
More Ceanothus species
- Buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus)
- Snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus)
- Blueblossom (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus)
- New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)
- Chaparral Whitethorn (Ceanothus leucodermis)
- Deerbrush (Ceanothus integerrimus)