''Malacothamnus discombobulatus'' is a species of flowering plant in the

mallow family Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include cacao, cola, cotton, okra, roselle and durian. There are also some genera co ...

known by the common name discombobulating bushmallow. It is morphologically similar to ''

Malacothamnus davidsonii ''Malacothamnus davidsonii'' is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Tujunga bushmallow and Davidson's bushmallow. It is endemic to Los Angeles County, California, where it primary occurs in and near Big Tu ...

'' and was treated within ''M. davidsonii'' in the past. ''Malacothamnus discombobulatus'' is named after the confusion sown from its morphological similarity to ''M. davidsonii''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

and

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

counties in California.Morse, K. 2023
Malacothamnus Volume 2: A Phylogenetic Assessment of Taxonomic Boundaries in the Genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae).
/ref>Morse, K. 2023
Malacothamnus Volume 3: A Revised Treatment of the Genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae) Based on Morphological and Phylogenetic Evidence.
/ref>

Identification

''Malacothamnus discombobulatus'' and ''M. davidsonii'' are generally separated from the rest of ''Malacothamnus'' based on the combination of relatively short calyx bracts, relatively long stellate trichome rays, often relatively large size of the fully grown plant, and a relatively late blooming period. ''Malacothamnus discombobulatus'' and ''M. davidsonii'' are most easily distinguished from each other based on their geographic ranges.

References

External links

Identification guide to ''Malacothamnus'' with maps and photosCalphotos image gallery for ''Malacothamnus discombobulatus''
discombobulatus Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of San Luis Obispo County, California Natural history of Monterey County, California Plants described in 2023 {{Malveae-stub