ceanothus

American  

[see-uh-noh-thuhs] / ˌsi əˈnoʊ θəs /

noun

ceanothuses plural

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

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ceanothus British  

/ ˌsiːəˈnəʊθəs /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• ceanothuses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ceanothus

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

Example Sentences

Ceanothus blooms also don’t last much longer than a day once they’re cut, and manzanitas, large shrubs with reddish limbs and dainty bell-shaped flowers, “are just too precious” to potentially damage by cutting, she said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2024

Asher planted low-water perennials, grasses and shrubs, including Westringia 'Morning Light,' Ceanothus griseus horizontalis 'Yankee Point,' purple fountain grass and kangaroo paws.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2014

Ceanothus azureus.—This succeeds either trained to a wall or as a bush.

From Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens by Cook, Ernest Thomas

In April its exquisite little clusters of pure white flowers, with a pleasant fragrance, make their appearance, and the plants have then been sometimes mistaken for a species of Ceanothus.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

Its ample bright-green, highly varnished leaves and large white flower-clusters make this a very beautiful species of Ceanothus.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth