The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Munro's desert-mallow, Munro's globemallow, munroe's globe-mallow, orange globe mallow, white-stem globe-mallow

small-leaf globemallow, smallflower globemallow

Habit Plants perennial. Plants perennial.
Stems

erect, green to gray-green, 2.5–9 dm, gray-green canescent.

erect, green or gray-green, 1.5–4(–10) dm, white- to yellow-canescent.

Leaf

blades green to gray-green, triangular, unlobed or weakly 5-lobed, to 4.5 cm, not rugose, base cuneate to truncate, margins coarsely toothed, surfaces stellate-pubescent.

blades gray to green, ovate, unlobed or weakly 3–5-lobed, 1–5.5 cm, not rugose, base cuneate to cordate, margins entire or crenate to serrate, surfaces stellate-pubescent.

Inflorescences

narrowly paniculate, crowded, few–many-flowered, flowers in clusters, tip not leafy;

involucellar bractlets green to tan.

paniculate, crowded, flowers clustered with distinct internodes between clusters, tip not leafy;

involucellar bractlets usually green to tan, sometimes red-purple.

Flowers

sepals 4–9 mm, tips forming weak beak in bud;

petals red-orange, 11–14 mm;

anthers yellow.

sepals 6–9 mm, tip not forming distinct beak in bud;

petals red-orange, 8–14 mm;

anthers yellow.

Seeds

1 per mericarp, brown, slightly hairy.

1 per mericarp, gray or black, ± pubescent.

Schizocarps

spheric;

mericarps 12, 3.5–4 × 2.5–3 mm, chartaceous, nonreticulate dehiscent part 55% of height, tip acute, with reflexed apical cusp, indehiscent part not wider than dehiscent part.

ellipsoid;

mericarps 12, 3.5–5.5 × 1.5–3 mm, chartaceous, nonreticulate dehiscent part 60–70% of height, with or without apical cusp, indehiscent part not wider than dehiscent part.

2n

= 10, 20.

Sphaeralcea munroana

Sphaeralcea parvifolia

Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Xeric plains and slopes Dry slopes
Elevation 100–2300 m (300–7500 ft) 1500–2100 m (4900–6900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sphaeralcea munroana and S. parvifolia are difficult to distinguish and may be conspecific. Sphaeralcea parvifolia is more southern and smaller overall; S. munroana is more northern and more robust.

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

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 367. FNA vol. 6, p. 367.
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. leptophylla, S. lindheimeri, S. moorei, S. orcuttii, S. parvifolia, S. pedatifida, S. polychroma, S. procera, S. psoraloides, S. rusbyi, S. wrightii
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. leptophylla, S. lindheimeri, S. moorei, S. munroana, S. orcuttii, S. pedatifida, S. polychroma, S. procera, S. psoraloides, S. rusbyi, S. wrightii
Synonyms Malva munroana, M. creeana, Malvastrum munroanum, Malveopsis munroana, Nuttallia munroana, S. munroana subsp. subrhomboidea, S. munroana var. subrhomboidea, S. subrhomboidea S. arizonica, S. marginata
Name authority (Douglas ex Lindley) Spach: Hist. Nat. Vég. 14: 403. (1847) A. Nelson: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 17: 94. (1904)
Web links