Malacothamnus mendocinensis

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|status = G1

|status_system = TNC

|genus = Malacothamnus

|species = mendocinensis

|authority = (Eastw.) Kearney

| synonyms = *Malvastrum mendocinense (Eastw..)

}}

Malacothamnus mendocinensis is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common name Mendocino bushmallow.Kearney, T. H. 1951. “The Genus Malacothamnus, Greene (Malvaceae).” Leaflets of Western Botany VI (6):113–40. It is endemic to Mendocino County, California, where it is known from only two populations.Morse, K. 2023. [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23937066 Malacothamnus Volume 3: A Revised Treatment of the Genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae) Based on Morphological and Phylogenetic Evidence.] It was presumed extinct until rediscovered in 2016 and now has a California Rare Plant Rank of 1B.1 (Plants rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere).[https://rareplants.cnps.org/Plants/Details/1068 "CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants: Malacothamnus mendocinensis", accessed 2023-1-27] In some treatments, Malacothamnus mendocinensis has been included within Malacothamnus fasciculatus or Malacothamnus hallii.Bates, D. M. 1993. “Malacothamnus.” In The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California, edited by James C. Hickman, 751–754. Berkeley: University of California Press.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 [eds.], The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, 884–885. University of California Press. Phylogenetic and morphological evidence, however, indicate that it is not closely related to these species and should be recognized as a separate species.Morse, K. 2023. [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23937048 Malacothamnus Volume 1: A Morphological Assessment of Taxonomic Boundaries in the Genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae).]Morse, K. 2023. [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23937066 Malacothamnus Volume 2: A Phylogenetic Assessment of Taxonomic Boundaries in the Genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae).]