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small-leaf globemallow, smallflower globemallow

juniper globemallow, palmate globemallow, slippery globemallow

Habit Plants perennial. Plants perennial.
Stems

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

decumbent to erect, green to gray-green, (1–)3–4(–5.5) dm, sparsely pubescent.

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.

blades green to gray-green, wide-triangular, 3-lobed or pedately divided, (0.5–)1.5–2.5(–4) cm, not rugose, base cuneate, margins entire, 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.

racemose, flowers solitary or proximal nodes 2- or 3-flowered, tip ± leafless;

involucellar bractlets green to tan.

Flowers

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

petals red-orange, 8–14 mm;

anthers yellow.

sepals 3.5–8 mm;

petals red-orange, 8–14 mm;

anthers purple.

Seeds

1 per mericarp, gray or black, ± pubescent.

1(or 2) per mericarp, brown or black, glabrous or pubescent.

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.

cylindric to widely conic;

mericarps 9–13, 3–5 × 2–2.5 mm, thickish, chartaceous, nonreticulate dehiscent part 50–60% of height, tip muticous to short-cuspidate, indehiscent part not wider than dehiscent part, sides finely, not highly reticulate.

2n

= 10, 20.

= 10.

Sphaeralcea parvifolia

Sphaeralcea digitata

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Dry slopes Diverse substrates including gypsum, desert scrub
Elevation 1500–2100 m (4900–6900 ft) 1200–2200 m (3900–7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 367. FNA vol. 6, p. 363.
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. coccinea, S. coulteri, 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
Synonyms S. arizonica, S. marginata Malvastrum digitatum, S. digitata var. angustiloba, S. digitata subsp. tenuipes, S. digitata var. tenuipes, S. pedata var. angustiloba, S. tenuipes
Name authority A. Nelson: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 17: 94. (1904) (Greene) Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 40: 58. (1913)
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