A deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub 2 to 4 ft high; young shoots thin, flexible, quite glabrous. Leaves alternate, inconspicuously three-nerved, oblong, rounded at the end, broadly tapered to rounded at the base, quite entire; 1⁄2 to 1 in. long, 3⁄16 to 3⁄8 in. wide; glabrous or nearly so on both surfaces. Flowers varying in shade from pale to deep blue, produced in panicles 1⁄2 to 11⁄2 in. long; each flower is about 1⁄10 in. wide, its stalk slender, 1⁄4 to 3⁄8 in. long.
Native of California, inhabiting mountain flats on the Sierra Nevada at 4,700 to 6,500 ft altitude. It is nearly related to C. integerrimus but differs in its dwarfer, often flat-topped habit, its blue flowers, much smaller leaves, and scarcely branched flower-panicles. It has been introduced and, coming from considerable elevations, should be hardy against a wall.