Malacothamnus orbiculatus

Tehachapi bushmallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Tehachapi bushmallow is a California native shrub found in the southern Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, and Desert Mountains in early-recovering post-burn areas and woodland edges at elevations of 180 to 2,760 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces pale flowers with petals up to 2 centimeters long in spike-like clusters. Growing as a compact shrub up to 2.5 meters tall with stellate-hairy stems that are sparsely to densely covered in branching hairs. Its leaves are nearly round to widely ovate, often unlobed or with subtle 3 to 5 rounded lobes, appearing ashy to bright green with distinctive stellate hair coverage. The shrub often persists in early successional habitats and has a notable ability to regenerate after disturbances like wildfire.

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

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

Elevation: 180-2760 m

Bioregions: SNF, s SNH, TR, DMtns.

California counties: Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura, Inyo, Tulare, Riverside, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara

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