View source for Malosma

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Anacardiaceae
|genus=Malosma
|habit=shrub
|Min ht metric=cm
|lifespan=perennial
|exposure=sun
|water=moderate, dry
|Temp Metric=°F
|jumpin=This is the plant information box - for information on light; water; zones; height; etc. If it is mostly empty you can help grow this page by clicking on the edit tab and filling in the blanks!
|image=Malosma laurina 2.jpg
|image_width=240
}}
[[Image:Malosma_laurina_1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Malosma laurina'']]'''''Malosma''''' is a plant genus for which only a single species, ''Malosma laurina'', is proposed.<ref name="ITIS">[[Integrated Taxonomic Information System]] (2007). [http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=500407 ''Malosma''], retrieved June 10, 2007.</ref> Common names for the species include '''laurel sumac''' and '''lentisco''' (Spanish). ''Malosma laurina'' is found along the southern California and Baja California coasts; the name "laurel" was chosen because the foliage is reminiscent of bay laurel ([[Bay laurel|''Laurus nobilis'']]), which is an otherwise unrelated small tree of the Mediterranean region.<ref>[http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MALA6 "NPIN: Malosma laurina (Laurel sumac),"] page of the [http://www.wildflower.org/about/ website] maintained by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved July 10, 2007.</ref> The species was previously assigned to the genus [[Rhus|''Rhus'']], and was known as ''Rhus laurina''.

''Malosma laurina'' is a large, rounded evergreen shrub or small tree growing 3 to 5 meters (10-15 feet) tall. In bloom, it is intensely aromatic, and gives a characteristic odor to [[chapparal]].<ref>Sudderth, Carolanne (1999). [http://www.smmirror.com/Volume1/issue5/laurel_sumac.html "The Canyon's Own Perfume: Laurel Sumac,"] [[Santa Monica Mirror|''The Santa Monica Mirror'']], Vol. 1 (5), July 21-28, 1999. Online version retrieved June 10, 2007.</ref> The lance-shaped leaf blades are up to 10 cm (4") long, with reddish veins, [[Petiole (botany)|petiole]]s and stems (see photo in taxobox). The very small flowers have five white petals and five-lobed green [[sepal]]s. Large clusters of these flowers occur at the ends of twigs in late spring and early summer. The clusters ([[panicle|panicles]]) are 7-15 cm (3 to 6 ") long, and are reminiscent of [[lilac]] (see photo).<ref name="FEIS">Howard, Janet L. (1992). [http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/mallau/all.html Malosma laurina], in: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, [[United States Forest Service|Forest Service]], 
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). This article is remarkably comprehensive and well referenced. Webpage retrieved June 12, 2007.</ref><ref>Seiler, John R., Jensen, Edward C., and Peterson, John A. (2007). [http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/dendrology/syllabus2/factsheet.cfm?ID=562 "Malosma laurina Fact Sheet."] Tree identification photographs and information from the [http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/dendrology/main.htm Dendrology database and website] maintained by the Department of Forestry, [[Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University]]. Retrieved June 23, 2007.</ref> The fruit is a whitish [[drupe]] 3 mm (1/8") in diameter with a smooth, flattish stone inside (see photo).<ref>Gatlin, Connie (undated). [http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/plants/malo-lau.html ''Malosma laurina'' (Laurel Sumac)], from the [[San Diego Natural History Museum]] website, retrieved June 10, 2007.</ref>

''Malosma laurina'' is distributed along the southern California coastline (from [[Point Conception]] south to [[La Paz, Baja California Sur|La Paz]]), and on several of the [[Channel Islands of California|Channel Islands]] lying off the coast.<ref> Wilken, Dieter H. (1993). [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?315,316 ''Malosma''], article in ''The Jepson manual: higher plants of California'', James C. Hickman, editor (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), ISBN 978-0520082557. Online version retrieved June 10, 2007.</ref><ref name="FEIS" />''Malosma laurina'' is not frost-hardy.<ref name="Laspilitas"> [http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/571.htm Rhus laurina Laurel Sumac], website of the ''Las Pilitas'' nursery. Retrieved June 10, 2007.</ref>

''Malosma laurina'' is presently used as a landscape plant in frost-free areas.<ref name="Laspilitas" /> 
{{Inc|
Rhus laurina, Nutt. (Lithraea laurina, Walp.). Aromatic, glabrous shrub: branchlets purplish: lvs. oblong-ovate to lanceolate, acute and mucronulate, rounded at the base, entire, 2-3 in. long: petioles  1/2-1 1/2 in. long: fls. in dense panicles, to 4 in. long, greenish white fr. ovoid, beaked, 1/6in. long, whitish, with a waxy covering. Summer. S. and Low. Calif. —Will thrive in the hottest and driest places; very handsome with its dark green glossy foliage.
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