This lifeform is found from north-central California south to San Diego.

California Lilac (Ceanothus oliganthus) is found in the southern half of California south to almost the southern-most portion of the state. There are numerous species in the genus Ceanothus with the common name of California Lilac. This species occurs as a shrub or tiny tree. Flowers are pale blue.

Ceanothus genus is native to North America and northern Mexico.  There are about 55 species in this genus. These are shrubs with alternate petioled leaves and with axillary or terminal corymbs or panicles of variously colored flowers.  There are 45 species, 11 hybrids, and 29 subspecies growing in greater North America.  This genus is very well- represented in California.  In fact, in the California botany by Munz there are 43 different species in the genus Ceanothus.

Buckthorn Family (Rhamnaceae) is a medium-sized family of woody  plants including vines, trees, and shrubs. There are perhaps 850 to 900 species in the family. There are 109 species arranged in 17 genera now growing in greater North America.

Rhamnales Order is a small order of woody plants containing only two families.

Dicots (Dicotyledoneae Class) are the predominant group of vascular plants on earth. With the exception of the grasses (Monocots) and the Conifers (Gymnosperms), most of the larger plants that one encounters are  Dicots. Dicots are characterized by having a seed with two outer shell coverings. Some of the more primitive Dicots are the typical hardwood trees (oaks, birches, hickories, etc). The more advanced Dicots include many of the Composite Family flowers like the  Dandelion, Aster, Thistles, and Sunflowers. Although many Monocots reach a very high degree of specialization, most botanists feel that the Dicots represent the most advanced group of plants.

Seed plants (Phylum Embryophyta) are generally grouped into one large phylum containing three major classes: the Gymnosperms, the Monocots, and the Dicots. (Some scientists separate the Gymnosperms into a separate phylum and refer to the remaining plants as flowering plants or Angiospermae.)

For North American counts of the number of species in each genus and family, the primary reference has been John T. Kartesz, author of A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (1994). The geographical scope of his lists include, as part of greater North America, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Kartesz lists 21,757 species of vascular plants comprising the ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants as being found in greater North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands).

There are estimates within the scientific world that about half of the listed North American seed plants were originally native with the balance being comprised of Eurasian and tropical plants that have become established.

Plant kingdom contains a large variety of different organisms including mosses, ferns, and seed plants. Most plants manufacture their energy from sunlight and water. Identification of many species is difficult in that most individual plants have characteristics that have variables based on soil moisture, soil chemistry, and sunlight.

Because of the difficulty in learning and identifying different plant groups, specialists have emerged that study only a limited group of plants. These specialists revise the taxonomy and give us detailed descriptions and ranges of the various species.  Their results are published in technical journals and written with highly specialized words that apply to a specific group.

On the other hand, there are the nature publishers. These people and companies undertake the challenging task of trying to provide easy to use pictures and descriptions to identify those species.