Pine Hill Ceanothus
See photo info
Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office
Species Account
PINE HILL CEANOTHUS
(Ceanothus roderickii)
CLASSIFICATION: Federal Endangered Species (Federal Register 61:54346 pdf; October 18, 1996)
CRITICAL HABITAT: None designated.
RECOVERY PLAN: Recovery Plan for Gabbro Soil Plants of the Central Sierra Foothills. 2002
DESCRIPTION:
Pine Hill ceanothus (Ceanothus roderickii) is a prostrate evergreen shrub of the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). It spreads to about 10 feet in diameter. The smooth gray-brown branches radiate from a central axis and root when they come into contact with the ground. The leaves of the species are semi-erect with entire margins.
Small whitish flowers tinged with blue appear from May through June. Their resulting fruit is an inconspicuously horned globe-shaped capsule.
See Hickman (1993) in General Information about California Plants, below, for a detailed description of the species.
DISTRIBUTION:
Pine Hill ceanothus grows on gabbro soils. It is restricted to the Pine Hill intrusion in El Dorado County. According to theCalifornia Natural Diversity Database, there are 16 occurrences known to be extant and another that may have been extirpated.
Gabbro soils originate from volcanic rocks (gabbrodiorite) that are mildly acidic, rich in iron and magnesium, and often contain other heavy metals such as chromium. Gabbro, a dark large-crystalled rock, is formed when liquid magma cools slowly underground. A red soil is formed when the rock is exposed and weathers at the earth's surface. These soils are well-drained and are underlain by gabbrodiorite rocks at a depth of more than 3 feet.
THREATS:
Residential and commercial development, inadequate regulatory mechanisms, off-road vehicle use, road-widening, change in fire frequency, and other human-caused conditions are responsible for the decline of the species. Commercial development has extirpated two known occurrences. Most of the plants are on private land. The Bureau of Land Management manages the land where at least one population occurs. The California Departments of Forestry and Fire Protection and Fish and Game manage another site.
STATE & CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY STATUS:
This species was listed as rare by the California Department of Fish and Game in July 1982. The California Native Plant Society has placed it on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range).
Learn more about protection efforts by the Pine Hill Preserve.
REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1996. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for Four Plants and Threatened Status for One Plant From the Central Sierran Foothills of California. Portland, Oregon.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2002. Recovery Plan for Gabbro Soil Plants of the Central Sierra Nevada Foothills. Portland, Oregon.
Wilson, J.L. 1986. A study of plant species diversity and vegetation pattern associated with the Pine Hill gabbro formation and adjacent substrata, El Dorado County, California. California State University. Sacramento. Thesis.
General Information about California Plants
Photo credit: Pine Hill ceanothus by Harry Mossman, USFWS
Prepared by Endangered
Species Div., Sacramento Fish & Wildlife
Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service
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