Ceanothus fresnensis Dudley ex Abrams

vernacular Fresno mat — species · Rhamnaceae

USDA: CEFR
GBIF: 3039315
Rank: species

Fresno mat (Ceanothus fresnensis) — Platephotograph · 2005 Dean Wm. TaylorCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

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

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 6 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 6 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

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

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -23 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 140 min.
Precipitation: 18–60 in/yr
pH range: 5.8–7
Root depth: 18 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Crown
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 1 ft
Height @ 20 y: 1 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Gray-Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Blue
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: Low
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 6 counties across 1 state.

California view state ↗ 6 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/CEFR ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/3039315 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z