FALSE MALLOW.
Malvastrum Thurberi, Gray. Mallow Family.
Shrubby at base; three to fifteen feet high; densely tomentose. Leaves.—An inch or two across; thick. Flowers.—Clustered in the axils of the leaves; or in an interrupted naked spike. Calyx.—Five-lobed; with one to three bractlets. Petals.—Five, about six lines long; rose-purple. Stamens.—United in a column. Ovaries.—Numerous; united in a ring. Styles united at base. Stigmas capitate. Hab.—The southern Coast Ranges and islands of the Coast.
Upon the mesas of the south we often see a shrubby member of the mallow family, with long, wandlike branches ornamented with closely set, pink flowers, of delicate texture and pleasant perfume. This is the false mallow. It is a very handsome and noticeable shrub when in full bloom. The anthers are golden brown, and the stigmas are spherical instead of filiform. Upon the seashore it blooms much earlier than in the valleys inland.