Malacothrix clevelandii is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Cleveland's desertdandelion.

It is native to parts of the southwestern United States and Baja California, where it can be found most often in chaparral, including cleared and disturbed areas such as slopes recently burned by wildfire.

[1] It is an annual herb producing a flowering stem up to about 35 centimeters in maximum height.

The inflorescence is an array of flower heads each bearing rings of pale yellow ray florets roughly half a centimeter long.

Its specific epithet clevelandii honors 19th-century San Diego–based plant collector and lawyer Daniel Cleveland.