Malacothamnus fasciculatus

Malacothamnus fasciculatus, with the common name chaparral mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family.[1] It is found in far western North America.[2]

Malacothamnus fasciculatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Malacothamnus
Species:
M. fasciculatus
Binomial name
Malacothamnus fasciculatus

Distribution

The plant is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it is a common member of the chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities.

Description

Malacothamnus fasciculatus is a shrub with a slender, multibranched stem growing 1–5 metres (3.3–16.4 ft) 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.

White flowering Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nuttallii.

Varieties

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.[1]

Varieties of the species currently named include:[3]
  • Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. catalinensis — Santa Catalina Island bush-mallow; endemic to Catalina Island, one of the Channel Islands of California.[4]
  • Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. fasciculatus.
  • Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nesioticus — Santa Cruz Island bush mallow; a rare plant endemic to Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands, on which only ~120 individual plants remain.[5] It is federally listed as an endangered species.[6]
  • Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nuttallii — endemic to California in the Outer South Coast Ranges, and Western Transverse Ranges.[7]
Pink flowering form, in the Peninsular Ranges.
gollark: No.
gollark: My alt.
gollark: Yes. When I go mountain climbing and I need to recharge my phone, instead of messing with a solar panel or something I simply find a pebble and connect some leads to it.
gollark: Suuuure.
gollark: Arguably quite a lot are. Depending on things, you may end up suffering more overhead trying to split up work, merge your parts back together, maintain multiple copies of things, communicate, and that sort of thing, than you would just doing all of it yoursel.

References
  1. ITIS Report: Malacothamnus fasciculatus" (Nutt. ex Torr. & A. Gray) Greene . accessed 1.14.2014.
  2. USDA . accessed 1.14.2014.
  3. CalFlora . accessed 1.14.2014
  4. CalFlora Database: Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. catalinensis.
  5. CalFlora Database: Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nesioticus
  6. Center for Plant Conservation
  7. CalFlora Database: Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nuttallii.


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