Santa Lucia Bush Mallow, Malacothamnus palmeri

About Santa Lucia Bush Mallow (Malacothamnus palmeri) 11 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Malacothamnus palmeri is a species of flowering plant in the Malvaceae (Mallow) family known by the common names Palmer's bushmallow and Santa Lucia bushmallow. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodland of the Central Coast and adjacent Coast Ranges of Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties. This is an erect shrub with a thick, branching stem reaching two meters or more in height. It is coated thinly to densely in woolly white or tan hairs. The lobed, oval leaves are no more than 8 centimeters long. The flower cluster is a headlike or elongated cluster of pale pink flowers with oval petals each up to 1.5 centimeters long. The combination of gray foliage and pink flowers is attractive. It blooms in summer when many other plants are done. It is generally taller than it is wide, making it useful in narrow situations.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

4 - 8 ft tall
5 ft wide

Dormancy

Evergreen

Flower Color

Pink, White, Brown

Flowering Season

Spring, Summer

Wildlife Supported

Hummingbirds, butterflies, and other insects are attracted to the flowers
Hummingbird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 4 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Northern White-Skipper Heliopetes ericetorumHeliopetes ericetorum

West Coast Lady Vanessa annabellaVanessa annabella

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Bucculatrix quadrigeminaBucculatrix quadrigemina

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun

Moisture

Very Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 2x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 11

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 15° F

Soil Drainage

Medium

Soil Description

Prefers heavy soils but tolerates a variety of garden soils

Common uses

Hedges, Hummingbird Gardens, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens

Companion Plants

Use with other chaparral plants of the central coast such as Manzanita (Arctostaphylos species), Ceanothus species, Silk Tassel Bush (Garrya elliptica), Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), Scrub Oak (Quercus berberidifolia), Coffee Berry (Frangula species), Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea), Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii), and Bluff Lettuce (Dudleya farinosa)

Maintenance

Prune to shape in late fall or to remove undesired sucker growth

Sunset Zones?

7, 8, 9, 14*, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24

Natural Setting

Site Type

Slopes and valleys of the central coast

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 12.6" - 46.9", Summer Precipitation: 0.19" - 0.50", Coldest Month: 41.4" - 49.9", Hottest Month: 61.7" - 77.5", Humidity: 0.82" - 25.87", Elevation: 20" - 3468"

Alternative Names

Botanical Names: Malacothamnus palmeri var. lucianus
Common Names: Palmer's Bushmallow, Santa Lucia Bushmallow

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Santa Lucia Bush Mallow

Malacothamnus palmeri

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Santa Lucia Bush MallowMalacothamnus palmeri

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Santa Lucia Bush Mallow

Malacothamnus palmeri