General:
Evergreen shrub 0.5-2 m tall; stems numerous, prostrate to erect, green, minutely hairy to smooth.

Leaves:
Alternate, the blades egg-shaped to elliptic, 5-10 cm long, smooth, shiny above, often tinged with brown and sticky above, greyish-hairy to smooth below, finely toothed; stalks 1-2 cm long; stipules 1 mm long, deciduous.

Fruits:
Capsules, 4-5 mm long, 3-lobed, separating into 3, dehiscent, rounded carpels, the carpels slightly crested above; seeds 1 per carpel.

Notes:
Two varieties occur in BC.

1. Leaves smooth on lower surface, at least on the veins; plants occurring W of the Coast-Cascade Mountains....................var. hookeri M. C. Johnson

1. Leaves finely short -hairy on lower surface; plants occurring E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains......................var. velutinus

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Ceanothus velutinus var. laevigatus Torr. & A. Gray