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Pictured: Ceanothus impressus — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Rhamnaceae family

Santa Barbara Ceanothus (var. nipomensis) Ceanothus impressus var. nipomensis variety

Native

Santa Barbara Ceanothus (var. nipomensis) is a perennial tree native to the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Ceanothus impressus is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common name Santa Barbara ceanothus. It is endemic to the Central Coast of California, where it is known from San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. It occurs in chaparral habitat. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 11 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Tree layer (canopy / understory) — Sits in the tree of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~45 caterpillar species

Ceanothus supports ~45 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a strong genus.

Recorded feeding on Ceanothus in North America, including:

Acanthopteroctetes unifascia Acleris hastiana · leafroller moth Acronicta lepusculina · Cottonwood Dagger Moth Aethaloida packardaria · geometer (inchworm) moth Anacamptodes fragilaria · geometer (inchworm) moth Anavitrinella pampinaria · Common Gray
+ 8 more species →
Ancylis columbiana · leafroller moth Ancylis semiovana · leafroller moth Ancylis simuloides · leafroller moth Apodemia nais · Nais Metalmark Apodrepanulatrix liberaria · geometer (inchworm) moth Apodrepanulatrix litaria · geometer (inchworm) moth Archips argyrospila · Fruit-Tree Leafroller Moth Argyrolacia bifida · twirler moth
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[10] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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