''Malacothamnus nuttallii'' 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 Ojai bushmallow. It is named after the botanist

Thomas Nuttall Thomas Nuttall (5 January 1786 – 10 September 1859) was an English botanist and zoologist who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841. Nuttall was born in the village of Long Preston, near Settle in the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. 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 Santa Barbara,

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 ...

, and Ventura counties in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is sometimes treated as a variety of ''

Malacothamnus fasciculatus ''Malacothamnus fasciculatus'' is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, which has four varieties. It is endemic to southwestern California and northwestern Baja California. Morse, K. 2023Malacothamnus Volume 3: A Revised Treatment of ...

'' but morphological, phylogenetic, and phenological evidence show it to be distinct. ''Malacothamnus nuttallii'' is widely planted and is in cultivation under the name ''Malacothamnus fasciculatus'' ‘Casitas’.Morse, K. 2023
Malacothamnus Volume 1: A Morphological Assessment of Taxonomic Boundaries in the Genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae).
/ref>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 nuttallii'' is distinguished from all other species of ''Malacothamnus'' by the combination of its short calyx bracts, very short stellate trichome rays, generally moderately lobed leaves with pointed lobes, and roughly the same stellate trichome density across both leaf surfaces.

References

External links

Identification guide to ''Malacothamnus'' with maps and photosCalphotos image gallery for ''Malacothamnus nuttallii''
nuttallii Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of Santa Barbara County, California Natural history of Ventura County, California {{Malveae-stub