Malacothamnus densiflorus var. densiflorus

Few-rayed bushmallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Few-rayed bushmallow is a California native shrub found in early-recovering post-burn woody vegetation and edges of openings at elevations of 40 to 2,050 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces pale flowers with petals up to 2.5 centimeters long in interrupted dense flower clusters. Growing as a shrub up to 2.5 meters tall, it occasionally spreads by rhizomes and features stems densely covered with stellate hairs. Its leaves are unlobed or moderately 3 to 5-lobed with cordate to obtuse bases, with stellate hairs more dense on the leaf undersides. The plant's distinctive bracts subtending the flower clusters are linear or awl-shaped, ranging from 3 to 14.5 millimeters long and sometimes curved or shallowly lobed.

Habitat: Early-recovering post-burn woody vegetation, edges of openings, some plants occasionally persisting into more mature vegetation stages

Bloom period: (Mar)Apr-May(Jul)

Elevation: 40-2050 m

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.