Ceanothus laevigatus Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 125. 1831, not (Vahl) de Candolle 1825

Shrubs, sometimes arborescent, 2–6 m. Leaf blades: abaxial surface glabrous, veins glabrous or sparsely puberulent. Capsules: valves ± rugose. 2n = 24.

Flowering Mar–Jun. Clearings, open sites, mixed evergreen and conifer forests; 0–1400 m; B.C.; Calif., Oreg., Wash.

Variety laevigatus is distributed primarily in coastal mountains from California north to British Columbia and on the west slope of the Cascade Range. Ceanothus velutinus var. hookeri M. C. Johnston, based on C. laevigatus Hooker, is an illegitimate name. Putative hybrids between C. velutinus var. velutinus and C. thyrsiflorus have been named C. ×mendocinensis McMinn.