Malacothamnus fasciculatus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malvales |
Family: | Malvaceae |
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. It is found in far western North America.
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.
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.
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.