Chaparral bushmallow Chaparral bushmallow

Malva fasciculata Nuttall ex Torrey & A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 225. 1838; Malacothamnus arcuatus (Greene) Greene; M. fasciculatus subsp. catalinensis (Eastwood) Thorne; M. fasciculatus var. catalinensis (Eastwood) Kearney; M. fasciculatus var. laxiflorus (A. Gray) Kearney; M. fasciculatus var. nesioticus (B. L. Robinson) Kearney; M. fasciculatus var. nuttallii (Abrams) Kearney; M. hallii (Eastwood) Kearney; M. mendocinensis (Eastwood) Kearney; M. nesioticus (B. L. Robinson) Abrams; M. nuttallii Abrams; M. parishii (Eastwood) Kearney; Malvastrum arcuatum (Greene) B. L. Robinson; M. catalinense Eastwood; M. fasciculatum (Nuttall ex Torrey & A. Gray) Greene; M. fasciculatum var. laxiflorum (A. Gray) Munz & I. M. Johnston; M. hallii Eastwood; M. laxiflorum (A. Gray) Davidson & Moxley; M. mendocinense Eastwood; M. nesioticum B. L. Robinson; M. nesioticum subsp. nuttallii (Abrams) Wiggins; M. nuttallii (Abrams) Davidson & Moxley; M. parishii Eastwood; Sphaeralcea arcuata (Greene) Arthur; S. nesiotica (B. L. Robinson) Jepson

Flowering Apr–Jul. Coastal sage scrub, chaparral; 10–600(–2500) m; Calif.; Mexico (Baja California, Sonora).

Malacothamnus fasciculatus occurs principally in the Coast and Transverse ranges. It recently was found in natural Sonora Desert scrub in Maricopa County, Arizona (S. Hunkins 2012). Whether introduced or native is not known; its presence supports the nativity of collections made by Thurber in Sonora in the early 1850s. In southern California, some variants have been recognized infraspecifically: var. laxiflorus, with open-paniculate inflorescences, occurs essentially through the range of the species except in the coastal Peninsula Ranges; var. nuttallii, robust plants with paniculate inflorescences, often densely white-hairy adaxial leaf surfaces, and floral and carpel measurements in the upper ranges, occurs in the Transverse Ranges of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties; var. nesioticus, presumably with fastigiate inflorescence branches, but essentially the same as var. nuttallii, occurs on Santa Cruz Island; var. catalinensis, robust plants with spicate to narrowly paniculate inflorescences, occurs only on Santa Catalina Island. In northern California, populations generally have floral measurements in the lower range, although in the Santa Cruz Mountains plants sometimes have involucellar bractlets in the upper range. Otherwise, populations vary in patterns similar to those of southern California. Malacothamnus fasciculatus intergrades with M. davidsonii and M. fremontii in the Transverse Ranges and M. densiflorus in the Peninsula Ranges.