''Malacothamnus lucianus'' is a species of flowering plant in the
mallow family known by the common names Santa Lucia bushmallow and Arroyo Seco bushmallow and by the cultivar name Hanging Valley bushmallow. 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 ...
to
Monterey County, California
Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county (United States), county located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The count ...
, United States, where it is known from the Santa Lucia Mountains.
[Morse, K. 2021]
A morphological assessment of the Malacothamnus palmeri complex (Malvaceae).
Crossosoma 44: 1–27.[Morse, K. 2023]
Malacothamnus Volume 3: A Revised Treatment of the Genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae) Based on Morphological and Phylogenetic Evidence.
/ref>
Taxonomy
''Malacothamnus lucianus'' was first described in 1955 as ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' var. ''lucianus'' but treated as a synonym of ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' var. ''palmeri'' or simply ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' until elevated to the rank of species in 2021.[Kearney, T. H. 1955. “Notes on Malvaceae VII: A New Variety in Malacothamnus.” Leaflets of Western Botany VII (12):289–90.][Bates, D. M. 2015. “Malacothamnus.” In Flora of North America North of Mexico, edited by Flora of North America Editorial Committee, 6:280–85. New York and Oxford.][Slotta, T. 2012. Malacothamnus. In B. Baldwin, D. Goldman, D. Keil, R. Patterson, T. J. Rosatti, and D. H. Wilken ds. The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, 884–885. University of California Press.]
Identification
''Malacothamnus lucianus'' is distinguished from all other species in the genus by the combination of a capitate to subcapitate inflorescence and relatively long glandular trichomes. ''Malacothamnus lucianus'' is distinguished from both ''Malacothamnus palmeri
''Malacothamnus palmeri'' is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Cambria bushmallow and Palmer's bushmallow. It is endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County (), official ...
'' and '' Malacothamnus involucratus'' by having many rays of the stellate trichomes on the stem being 1–3 mm long and many of the glandular trichomes being 0.3-1.4 mm long. Conversely, in ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' and ''Malacothamnus involucratus'' most rays of the stellate trichomes on the stem are less than 1 mm long and the glandular trichomes are less or equals 0.1 mm long. ''Malacothamnus lucianus'' also often has somewhat of a rancid odor, which hasn't been recorded in ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' and ''Malacothamnus involucratus''.
References
External links
Identification guide to ''Malacothamnus'' with maps and photosCalphotos image gallery for ''Malacothamnus lucianus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q105458104
Flora of California
Endemic flora of California
lucianus
Natural history of Monterey County, California
Flora without expected TNC conservatio