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scaly globemallow

common globemallow, scarlet globe-mallow

Habit Plants perennial. Plants perennial, rhizomatous.
Stems

ascending, white to silvery, 1–4(–6) dm, silvery stellate-lepidote.

3–6, ascending or decumbent, light green to grayish, 1–3(–5) dm, stellate- green.

Leaf

blades white to silvery, linear to triangular, mostly unlobed, proximalmost blades 3-parted, rarely with nonfiliform lobes, 1–3.5 cm, not rugose, base truncate to cuneate, margins entire, surfaces silvery stellate-lepidote.

Inflorescences

racemose, lax, open, 3–12-flowered, tip not leafy;

involucellar bractlets silvery-lepidote.

Flowers

sepals 4.5–5.5(–7) mm;

petals red-orange, 8–15 mm;

anthers yellow.

sepals 5–10 mm;

petals red-orange, 5–20 mm;

anthers yellow.

Seeds

1 per mericarp, brown, usually glabrous.

1 per mericarp, gray to black, ± glabrous.

Schizocarps

flattened-spheric to conic;

mericarps 7–9, 2.5–3.5 × 2–3 mm, thick-coriaceous, nonreticulate dehiscent part 20–40% of height, tip muticous-mucronulate, indehiscent part usually wider than dehiscent part, sides coarsely reticulate.

flattened spheric-conic;

mericarps 10–14, 3–3.5 × 2.5–3 mm, thick, coriaceous, nonreticulate dehiscent part 10–35% of height, muticous, indehiscent part usually wider than dehiscent part.

2n

= 20.

Sphaeralcea leptophylla

Sphaeralcea coccinea

Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Dry rocky areas
Elevation 1500–1800 m (4900–5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; IA; ID; KS; MT; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; UT; WY; AB; BC; MB; SK; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Sphaeralcea coccinea is variable; it is one of the first sphaeralceas to bloom and is commonly found on roadsides.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Leaf blades: midlobe ± equaling secondary lobes.
var. coccinea
1. Leaf blades: midlobe longer than secondary lobes.
var. elata
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 366. FNA vol. 6, p. 361.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Sphaeralcea Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Sphaeralcea
Sibling taxa
S. ambigua, S. angustifolia, S. caespitosa, S. coccinea, S. coulteri, S. digitata, S. emoryi, S. fendleri, S. fumariensis, S. gierischii, S. grossulariifolia, S. hastulata, S. incana, S. laxa, S. lindheimeri, S. moorei, S. munroana, S. orcuttii, S. parvifolia, S. pedatifida, S. polychroma, S. procera, S. psoraloides, S. rusbyi, S. wrightii
S. ambigua, S. angustifolia, S. caespitosa, S. coulteri, S. digitata, S. emoryi, S. fendleri, S. fumariensis, S. gierischii, S. grossulariifolia, S. hastulata, S. incana, S. laxa, S. leptophylla, S. lindheimeri, S. moorei, S. munroana, S. orcuttii, S. parvifolia, S. pedatifida, S. polychroma, S. procera, S. psoraloides, S. rusbyi, S. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
S. coccinea var. coccinea, S. coccinea var. elata
Synonyms Malvastrum leptophyllum, Malveopsis leptophylla, S. janeae, S. leptophylla var. janeae Malva coccinea, Malvastrum coccineum, Sida coccinea
Name authority (A. Gray) Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 40: 59. (1913) (Nuttall) Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 40: 58. (1913)
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