ceanothus
noun
ce·a·no·thus ˌsē-ə-ˈnō-thəs 
: any of a genus (Ceanothus) of American vines, shrubs, and small trees of the buckthorn family having the calyx disk adherent to the ovary
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web There’s a California lilac — not the true syringa lilac of rhapsodic song and poetry but a ceanothus. 
Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2022 Aside from poppies, bush sunflowers, wooly blue curls, lupine, black sage, ceanothus and other plants are popping along trails in the Santa Monica Mountains. Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2022 Late summer brought a squadron of swallowtail butterflies that seemed to prefer feeding on the leathery leaves of ceanothus while nearby the busy skipper butterflies focused on clusters of wildflowers closer to the ground. San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Nov. 2020 This sale features drought-tolerant Southwestern, California native and Australian plants — including ceanothus, tecoma, manzanita and westringia — as well as cactuses, succulents, tomato and vegetable seedlings, fruit trees and herbs. Jeanette Marantos, latimes.com, 22 Mar. 2018
Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2022 Aside from poppies, bush sunflowers, wooly blue curls, lupine, black sage, ceanothus and other plants are popping along trails in the Santa Monica Mountains. Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2022 Late summer brought a squadron of swallowtail butterflies that seemed to prefer feeding on the leathery leaves of ceanothus while nearby the busy skipper butterflies focused on clusters of wildflowers closer to the ground. San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Nov. 2020 This sale features drought-tolerant Southwestern, California native and Australian plants — including ceanothus, tecoma, manzanita and westringia — as well as cactuses, succulents, tomato and vegetable seedlings, fruit trees and herbs. Jeanette Marantos, latimes.com, 22 Mar. 2018 Word History
Etymology
New Latin, from Greek keanōthos, a thistle
First Known Use
1785, in the meaning defined above