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small-leaf globemallow, smallflower globemallow

common globemallow, scarlet globe-mallow

Habit Plants perennial. Plants perennial, rhizomatous.
Stems

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

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

Leaf

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

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

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

Flowers

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

petals red-orange, 8–14 mm;

anthers yellow.

sepals 5–10 mm;

petals red-orange, 5–20 mm;

anthers yellow.

Seeds

1 per mericarp, gray or black, ± pubescent.

1 per mericarp, gray to black, ± glabrous.

Schizocarps

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.

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

= 10, 20.

Sphaeralcea parvifolia

Sphaeralcea coccinea

Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Dry slopes
Elevation 1500–2100 m (4900–6900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; UT
[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. 367. 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. leptophylla, S. lindheimeri, S. moorei, S. munroana, S. orcuttii, 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 S. arizonica, S. marginata Malva coccinea, Malvastrum coccineum, Sida coccinea
Name authority A. Nelson: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 17: 94. (1904) (Nuttall) Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 40: 58. (1913)
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