Malacothamnus fasciculatus

Malacothamnus fasciculatus
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.[1]
It is found in far western North America. [2]


Distribution

The plant is native to California and northern Baja California, where it is a common member of the chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities in many regions, desert chaparral in the Colorado Desert, and other habitats.

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]

See also


Pink flowering form, in the Peninsular Ranges.

References

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