Malacothamnus fremontii (Fremont's Bushmallow)

8/15/11 Lower elevations of Onion Valley Road, Inyo National Forest, Eastern Sierra, Inyo County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Fremont's Bushmallow

SPECIES: Malacothamnus fremontii

FAMILY: Malvaceae (Mallow Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 8/15/2011

LOCATION: Lower elevations of Onion Valley Road, Inyo National Forest, Eastern Sierra, Inyo County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Plant 5–20 dm; hairs ± woolly, white

Stem: branches generally coarse, stiff

Leaf: blade 4–6(11) cm, ovate to wider than long, thin or thick, upper surface hairy, lobes obscurely 5

Inflorescence spike- to panicle-like; clusters many-flowered, sessile to peduncled, generally well separated; bractlets 3–15 mm, generally < 0.5 mm wide

Flower: calyx 5.5–13 mm, not angled in bud, lobes free in bud, 3–10 mm, generally > or >> tube, generally narrowly triangular-acuminate, soft-hairy; petals light purple

Ecology: Chaparral to pine woodland

Elevation: 60–1300 m (n CA), 450–2300 m (s CA), 1700–2800 m (SNE).  

Bioregional distribution: High North Coast Ranges, Inner North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehachapi Mountain Area, e San Francisco Bay Area, Transverse Ranges, San Jacinto Mountains, East of Sierra Nevada, Desert Mountains (Panamint Mtns) 

Flowering time: Apr–Sep