Malacothamnus eastwoodiae

Alice's lovely bushmallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Alice's lovely bushmallow is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native shrub found in coastal habitats at elevations of 30 to 125 meters, typically growing in early-recovering post-burn woody vegetation and edges of openings. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces pale flowers with petals up to 3.5 centimeters long in loosely flowered clusters. Growing as a spreading shrub up to 3 meters tall, it features stems densely covered in stellate hairs with delicate branching. Its leaves are round to widely ovate, with 3 to 7 subtle rounded or acute lobes, bright green on the upper surface and paler underneath. The plant's distinctive stellate hairs and ability to spread by rhizomes make it a uniquely adapted shrub of recovering landscapes.

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

Bloom period: May-Jun(Aug)

Elevation: 30-125 m

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