Ceanothus impressus Ceanothus impressus Ceanothus impressus, with the common name Santa Barbara ceanothus, is a species of flowering shrub. This "Ceanothus" is endemic to the Central Coast of California, where it can be found on coastal slopes and mesas. Other common names are blueblossom ('blueblos') and California lilac, although the plant is not a lilac ("Syringa"). This expansive shrub may exceed three meters-10 feet in height and approach seven m.-28 feet in width. It is thickly branched with dark brown twigs and stem. The evergreen leaves are about 2 centimeters long and oval shaped, highly ridged and wrinkled and curling under along
Madonna of the Dry Tree Madonna of the Dry Tree Madonna of the Dry Tree (or Our Lady of the Barren Tree) is a small oil-on-oak panel painting, dated c. 1462–1465, by Early Netherlandish painter Petrus Christus. Unusually innovative and dramatic for its time, it depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child as she stands on a disembodied dead tree trunk, surrounded by the circular briars of a crown of thorns. The painting is believed to allude to the Book of Ezekiel, with the tree symbolizing the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden. However, Christus portrays the tree as dead and withered,