Malacothamnus fasciculatus

Malacothamnus fasciculatus
Malacothamnus fasciculatus
var. nuttallii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Malvoideae
Genus: Malacothamnus
Species: M. fasciculatus
Binomial name
Malacothamnus fasciculatus
(Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Greene

Malacothamnus fasciculatus, with the common names chaparral mallow and Mendocino bushmallow, is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family.

Contents

Description

In general, Malacothamnus fasciculatus is a shrub with a slender, multibranched stem growing one to five meters in height. It is coated thinly to densely in white or brownish hairs. The leaves are oval or rounded in shape, 2 to 11 centimeters long, and sometimes divided into lobes. The inflorescence is an elongated cluster of many pale pink flowers with petals under a centimeter long.

Distribution

It is native to California and Baja California, where it is a common member of the chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities in many regions. It is a highly variable plant which is sometimes described as a spectrum of varieties, and which is sometimes hard to differentiate from other Malacothamnus species.

Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nesioticus

One variety of this species, Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nesioticus, is a rare plant endemic to Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands of California, where only about 120 individuals remain.[1] It is federally listed as an endangered species.

See also

References

  1. ^ Center for Plant Conservation

External links

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