ceanothus

[see-uh-noh-thuhs]

noun

plural

ceanothuses 

1. any North American shrub or small tree of the largely western genus Ceanothus, having clusters of small white or blue flowers.

ceanothus

/ ˌsiːəˈnəʊθəs /

noun

1. any shrub of the North American rhamnaceous genus Ceanothus: grown for their ornamental, often blue, flower clusters

Word History and Origins

Origin of ceanothus¹

< New Latin (Linnaeus) < Greek keánōthos a species of thistle

Word History and Origins

Origin of ceanothus¹

C19: New Latin, from Greek keanōthos a kind of thistle

Example Sentences

When nearly 300 tour-goers visited the garden in the spring, they were treated to bright orange California poppies, cobalt-blue ceanothus flowers — a fan favorite, the couple says — yellow bush sunflowers and the bold pink flowers of hummingbird sage.

From Los Angeles Times

We also got suggestions from a charming subreddit called r/Ceanothus, which I recommend heartily to anyone with an interest in California native plants.

From Los Angeles Times

Those plants, grown from locally collected seed, include black sage, white sage and purple sage, California buckwheat, long-stem buckwheat and ashy leaf buckwheat, wild grape; narrow-leaf milkweed, California bush sunflower; deerweed; showy penstemon, toyon, laurel sumac and ceanothus.

From Los Angeles Times

Well, yes, and I don’t just mean the native ceanothus shrubs, a.k.a.

From Los Angeles Times

Her recommendations include multiple buckwheats, including California buckwheat, and Yankee Point ceanothus, an evergreen groundcover that has beautiful spring flowers.

From Los Angeles Times