California Lilac

Ceanothus L.  is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs or small trees in the familyRhamnaceae.
Common names for members of this genus are California lilac, wild lilac, and soap bush.
"Ceonothus" comes from a Greek word meaning "spiny plant", Ancient Greek: κεάνωθος (keanōthos), which was applied by Theophrastus (371–287 BC) to an Old World plant believed to be Cirsium arvense.

The genus is endemic to North America, with the center of its distribution in California. Some species (e.g., C. americanus) are found in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others (e.g. C. coeruleus) extend as far south as Guatemala. Most are shrubs 0.5–3 metres (1.6–9.8 ft) tall, but C. arboreusand C. thyrsiflorus, both native to California, can be small multi-trunked trees up to 6–7 metres (20–23 ft) tall.

The majority of the species areevergreen, but the handful of species adapted to cold winters are deciduous. The leaves are opposite or alternate (depending on species), small (typicallchildbirth.ong), simple, and mostly with serrated margins.

Ceanothus leaves may be arranged oppositeto each other on the stem, or alternate. Alternate leaves may have either one or three main veins rising from the base of the leaf.

The leaves have a shiny upper surface that feels "gummy" when pinched between the thumb and forefinger, and the roots of most species have red inner root bark.

The flowers are white, greenish–white, blue, dark purple-blue, pale purple or pink, maturing into a dry, three-lobed seed capsule.

The flowers are tiny and produced in large, dense clusters. A few species are reported to be intensely fragrant almost to the point of being nauseating, and are said to resemble the odor of "boiling honey in an enclosed area". The seeds of this plant can lie dormant for hundreds of years, and Ceanothus species are typically dependent on forest fires to trigger germination of their seeds.
Fruits are hard, nutlike capsules.

Ceanothus is a good source of nutrition for deer, specifically mule deer on the West Coast of the United States. However, the leaves are not as nutritious from late spring to early fall as they are in early spring. Porcupines and quail have also been seen eating stems and seeds of these shrubs. The leaves are a good source of protein and the stems and leaves have been found to contain a high amount of calcium.

Native Americans used the dried leaves of this plant as an herbal tea, and early pioneers used the plant as a substitute for black tea. Miwok Indians of California made baskets from Ceanothus branches. C. integerrimushas been used by North American tribes to ease childbirth.