Malacothrix saxatilis var. tenuifolia   (Nutt.) Torrey and A. Gray               Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Native Quill Weed Cliff Malacothrix Cliff Aster

                                         May Photo        

Plant Characteristics:  Perennial, suffrutescent, with several stems 3-9 dm. long diffuse or decumbent, branched, minutely tomentulose when young, not densely leafy to the infl.; lower lvs. acute, not succulent, often toothed or pinnately lobed with broad rachis, the upper linear-filiform, entire, not densely leafy to the infl.; infl. open, diffuse, slender-stemmed, many- headed; invol. 10-16 mm. high, the phyllaries in 3-4 series; ligules ca. 15-18 mm. long, white or some rose; aks. 10-15 costate, ca. 5 of the striae riblike, the ak. crowned with a minute denticulate white border; none of the pappus persistent.

Habitat:  Coastal Strand, Coastal Sage Scrub, etc.; Laguna Beach, Santa Ana Mts., Redlands to Kern and San Louis Obispo cos.; Santa Catalina Id., below 2000 m.  Most months.

Name:  Greek, malakos, soft and thrix, hair.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 206).  An allusion to the woolliness of the young plant. (Dale 71).  Saxatilis, means it is "found among rocks."  (Dale 71).

General:  Uncommon in the study area.    Found in one large colony along the bluffs between the Newporter and the intersection of Back Bay Dr. with San Joaquin Hills Rd.  Photographed in this location.  In 1990 several plants were noted along Back Bay Drive just northerly of Big Canyon.  (my comments).  About a dozen species of western North America.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 206).    Varieties intergrade. (Hickman, Ed. 315).     The 1993 Jepson Manual lists 5 varieties of M. saxatilis, while Munz, Flora So. Calif. lists only 3.  Var. tenuifolia was confirmed from a specimen collected on the bluff top between the Newporter Canyon and San Joaquin Hills Rd. in April 1994.  (my comment).       About a dozen species of western North America.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 206).

Text Ref:  Dale 71; Hickman, Ed. 315; Munz, Calif. Flora 1299; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 208; Robbins et al. 486; Roberts 12.

Photo Ref:  June 2 83 # 22; June 6 83 # 30,31; Mar 1 84 # 10; May 06 #11A.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.  

First Found:  June 1983.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 186.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 6/3/06.

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