''Malacothamnus involucratus'' is a species of flowering plant in the
mallow family known by the common name Carmel Valley bushmallow. It is likely
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Monterey County, California
Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas.
Monte ...
, where it is known from Carmel Valley and the Jolon region. A single specimen is attributed to
San Luis Obispo County, California but the origin of this specimen is questionable.
[Morse, K. 2021]
A morphological assessment of the Malacothamnus palmeri complex (Malvaceae).
Crossosoma 44: 1–27.[Morse, K. 2023]
Malacothamnus Volume 3: A Revised Treatment of the Genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae) Based on Morphological and Phylogenetic Evidence.
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Taxonomy
''Malacothamnus involucratus'' was first described in 1897 as ''Malvastrum involucratum''. In some treatments it was treated as a synonym of ''Malacothamnus palmeri
''Malacothamnus palmeri'' is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Cambria bushmallow and Palmer's bushmallow. It is endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California, where it is known from the Santa Lucia Mou ...
'' at the species rank or as a variety of ''Malacothamnus palmeri''. This taxon was returned to the rank of species as ''Malacothamnus involucratus'' in 2021 based on it being both morphologically and geographically distinct from ''Malacothamnus palmeri''.[Kearney, T. H. 1951. “The Genus Malacothamnus, Greene (Malvaceae).” Leaflets of Western Botany VI (6):113–40.][Bates, D. M. 2015. “Malacothamnus.” In Flora of North America North of Mexico, edited by Flora of North America Editorial Committee, 6:280–85. New York and Oxford.][Slotta, T. 2012. Malacothamnus. In B. Baldwin, D. Goldman, D. Keil, R. Patterson, T. J. Rosatti, and D. H. Wilken ds. The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, 884–885. University of California Press.]
Identification
''Malacothamnus involucratus'' is distinguished from all other species in the genus by the combination of a capitate to subcapitate inflorescence (occasionally spike-like), relatively wide stipular bracts, and relatively sparse stellate trichomes on the adaxial leaf surface. ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' is distinguished from ''Malacothamnus involucratus'' by having much denser stellate trichomes on the adaxial surface of mature leaves and by generally having the widest stipular bracts <=6.5 mm wide, whereas ''Malacothamnus involucratus'' generally has sparse stellate trichomes on the adaxial surface of mature leaves and the widest stipular bracts are generally >=7mm wide. ''Malacothamnus involucratus'' is distinguished from ''Malacothamnus lucianus
''Malacothamnus lucianus'' is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Santa Lucia bushmallow and Arroyo Seco bushmallow and by the cultivar name Hanging Valley bushmallow. It is endemic to Monterey County, Cal ...
'' by having glandular trichomes <0.1 mm and most stellate trichome rays on the stem <1 mm whereas ''Malacothamnus lucianus'' has glandular trichomes 0.3-1.4 mm and many stellate trichome rays on the stem 1–3 mm.
References
External links
Identification guide to ''Malacothamnus'' with maps and photosCalphotos image gallery for ''Malacothamnus involucratus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q105457592
involucratus
Flora of California
Endemic flora of California
Natural history of Monterey County, California
Flora without expected TNC conservation status