# Littleleaf Buckbrush (Ceanothus microphyllus) > A foot-high cousin of New Jersey tea for dry, sandy pinelands of the Deep South, with leaves under half an inch and white flower clusters in spring. Also called littleleaf whitethorn, sandflat ceanothus, littleleaf New Jersey tea, small-leaf redroot. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/littleleaf-buckbrush/ ![Littleleaf buckbrush (Ceanothus microphyllus) wiry stems of tiny leaves with small white flower clusters](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/littleleaf-buckbrush-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Scott Zona, CC BY 2.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACeanothus_microphyllus.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 1 to 2 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 8 to 10 - Grows wild in: Sandy barrens and dry uplands - Native range: Alabama, Florida and Georgia - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Dry - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Drought tolerant, Nitrogen fixing - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Littleleaf buckbrush is a small shrub of the buckthorn family and a close relative of our New Jersey tea. It grows on sandy flats, scrub oak sandhills and old dunes, and in open pine and oak woods, in south Alabama, south Georgia and much of Florida. Its wiry stems carry tiny leaves, often in bundles, and small round clusters of white flowers. Where the two grow together it can cross with New Jersey tea. Set it at the front of a dry, sunny bed of sandhill plants, where its small size and fine leaves can be seen. ## Size, growth and what to expect No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a slow grower, like our New Jersey tea, about a foot a year. It makes a low, rounded shrub 1 to 2 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide, on wiry stems of green or reddish green. Its leaves are a tenth to two fifths of an inch long, often bundled on short shoots. Small clusters of white flowers open from March to June, their sepals, petals and nectar disk all white. Small lobed capsules follow. It grows wild from south Alabama and south Georgia through Florida, south to Highlands County, in longleaf pine woods, scrub oak sandhills, sandy flats and old dunes. NatureServe ranks it vulnerable in Alabama and Georgia. ## How to grow Littleleaf Buckbrush Littleleaf buckbrush grows in full sun or the light shade of open pines and oaks. It wants deep, dry sand that drains fast, like the sandhills and dunes it grows on. Set plants 2 feet apart and keep them 2 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and add no fertilizer. Sow it as New Jersey tea is sown. Pour water heated to 180 to 200 degrees over the seed and soak it for 24 hours as the water cools. Then hold it in damp sand in the refrigerator for 60 to 90 days. Water weekly through the first summer if rain is short. It needs no pruning. Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. All ceanothus are thought to fix nitrogen with the help of bacteria in their roots, which suits it to poor sand. ## Sources - [Flora of North America, vol. 12: Ceanothus microphyllus, sandflat ceanothus](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250101389) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Ceanothus microphyllus](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CEMI4) - [Alabama Plant Atlas: Ceanothus microphyllus](http://www.floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=3095) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Ceanothus chapter](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/c/at_download/file) - [NatureServe Explorer: Ceanothus microphyllus, Littleleaf Whitethorn](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.157679/Ceanothus_microphyllus) - [Alabama Natural Heritage Program: 2023 tracking list](https://cosam.auburn.edu/biology/alnhp/_assets/2023_trackinglist.pdf) - [Atlas of Florida Plants, Institute for Systematic Botany: Ceanothus microphyllus](https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/plant/species/2096) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Ceanothus microphyllus](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/CEMI4) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Littleleaf Buckbrush, add ?species=littleleaf-buckbrush with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=littleleaf-buckbrush&zone=8&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Littleleaf Buckbrush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=littleleaf-buckbrush): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=littleleaf-buckbrush - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Littleleaf Buckbrush is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=littleleaf-buckbrush - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Littleleaf Buckbrush needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=littleleaf-buckbrush:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Littleleaf Buckbrush flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.