Malacothamnus palmeri
Introduction '''''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, where it is known from the Santa Lucia Mountains.
Taxonomy ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' was first described in 1877 as ''Malvastrum palmeri''. In some treatments, ''Malacothamnus involucratus'' and ''Malacothamnus lucianus'' have been treated as varieties of or synonyms of ''Malacothamnus palmeri''. In 2021 morphological analyses revealed these to be three morphologically and geographically distinct species.
Identification ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' is distinguished from the rest of the genus by the combination of a capitate to subcapitate inflorescence, glandular trichomes =7mm wide. ''Malacothamnus palmeri'' is distinguished from ''Malacothamnus lucianus'' by having glandular trichomes <0.1 mm and most stellate trichome rays on the stem <1 mm whereas ''Malacothamnus lucianus'' has glandular trichomes 0.3-1.4 mm and many stellate trichome rays on the stem 1–3 mm.
References
External links * Identification guide to ''Malacothamnus'' with maps and photos* Calflora Profile: Malacothamnus palmeri* Calphotos image gallery for ''Malacothamnus palmeri''