Coyote Ceanothus
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Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office

Species Account

COYOTE CEANOTHUS
(Ceanothus ferrisae or ferrisiae)

CLASSIFICATION: Federal Endangered Species (Federal Register  60:6671  (pdf); February 3, 1995).

CRITICAL HABITAT:  None designated

RECOVERY PLAN: Recovery Plan for Serpentine Soil Species of the San Francisco Bay Area, September 30, 1998 (pdf format)

DESCRIPTION:

Coyote ceanothus (Ceanothus ferrisae or ferrisiae ) is an erect evergreen shrub of the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). It grows 3 to 6 feet high, with long stiff divergent branches. Its round leaves are dark green and hairless on the upper surface, and lighter green with minute hairs below. Leaf margins have short teeth or sometimes no teeth at all; the leaf base is abruptly tapering or rounded.

Small white flowers bloom from January to March. They are borne in clusters 0.5 to 1 inch long. The seed capsules are 0.3 to 0.35 inch in width and have three conspicuous apical horns (protuberances situated at the tip).

The related buck brush (Ceanothus cuneatus) has entire leaves with wedge-shaped (not rounded) bases and seed capsules only 0.2 inch wide.

Rare species associated with coyote ceanothus include the federally listed bay checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis) and Santa Clara Valley dudleya (Dudleya setchellii), and two federal species of concern, most beautiful jewelflower (Streptanthus albidus ssp. peramoenus) and Mt. Hamilton thistle (Cirsium fontinale var. campylon). It is also associated with bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca), California coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica), California sagebrush (Artemisia californica), common yarrow (Achillea millefolium), foothill pine (Pinus sabiniana), leather oak (Quercus durata) and toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia).

See Hickman (1993) in General Information about California Plants, below, for a detailed description of coyote ceanothus and other species in the genus.

DISTRIBUTION:

Coyote ceanothus is known from only four locations on dry slopes in serpentine chaparral and valley and foothill grassland below 1,000 feet within the Mt. Hamilton Range in Santa Clara County.

Serpentine soils are formed from weathered volcanic (ultramafic) rocks such as serpentinite, dunite, and peridotite. These soils provide a harsh environment for plant growth. Several factors contribute to the inhospitability of serpentine soils to plant growth including: 1) a low calcium-magnesium ratio; 2) lack of essential nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous; and 3) high concentrations of heavy metals (mineral toxicity). However, species such as coyote ceanothus have adapted to serpentine soils and require them to survive.

THREATS:

The existing populations of Coyote ceanothus are threatened by residential and recreational development, unauthorized dumping, landfill activities, lack of natural recruitment, the expansion of the Anderson Reservoir spillway, altered fire regimes and grazing. There is some evidence that coyote ceanothus seeds require fire for germination. However this has not been established.

STATE & CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY STATUS:

The California Native Plant Society has placed Coyote ceanothus on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range).

Although the species has not been officially listed by the State of California, the Department of Fish and Game considers it to be "very threatened." It is on the sensitive species list of the Bureau of Land Management's Holister field office.

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

McMinn, H. E. 1933. Madroño 2:89-90.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1995. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for Ten Plants and Threatened Status for Two Plants From Serpentine Habitats in the San Francisco Bay Region of California. Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1998.  Recovery Plan for Serpentine Soil Species of the San Francisco Bay Area. Portland, Oregon.

General Information about California Plants

Photo credit: coyote ceanothus, by Toni Corelli

Prepared by Endangered Species Div., Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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