Ceanothus greggii A. Gray

vernacular desert ceanothus — species · Rhamnaceae

USDA: CEGR
GBIF: 3876325 syn.
Rank: species

desert ceanothus (Ceanothus greggii) — Platephotograph · Jim Roberts source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Rhamnaceae Juss.
Genus: Ceanothus

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 10 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 10 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Medium
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -13 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 270 min.
Precipitation: 11–40 in/yr
pH range: 6.2–8.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 7 ft
Height @ 20 y: 7 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Gray-Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Blue
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: Low
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Spring
Spread rate: Rapid
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 23,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Field Collections Only
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 10 counties across 1 state.

Arizona view state ↗ 10 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CEGR ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3876325 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T06:33:17Z