90 MALVACEAE 



7. Sphaeralcea parvifolia A. Nels. Small-leaved Desert-mallow. Fig. 3174. 



Sphaeralcea parvifolia A. Nels. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 17:94. 1904. 

 Sphaeralcea marginata York ex Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 33: 145. 1906. 

 Sphaeralcea arizonica Heller ex Rydb. Bull Torrey Club 40: 59. 1913. 



Perennial from a woody taproot, whitish-canescent throughout, stems several, erect, 5-10 dm. 

 high Leaves prominently veined beneath, thick, ovate-deltoid to suborbicular, cordate to truncate 

 at the base 1.5^ cm. long, usually shallowly 3-lobed near the middle, crenate; mflorescence 

 narrowly thyrsoid-glomerate, 10-30 cm. long ; calyx 4-8 mm. high, densely pubescent, lobes ovate- 

 lanceolate, short-acuminate; petals grenadine, 10-18 mm. long; fruit hemispherical to truncate- 

 conical, slightly surpassing the calyx; carpels 3-5 mm. high, walls chartaceous, the dehiscent 

 portion erect, ovate, mucronate or short-cuspidate, the indehiscent portion 1-1 . 5 mm. high, finely 

 reticulate, usually 2-seeded. 



Dry slopes, mesas, and openings in pine forests, Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition Zones; Inyo County, 

 California, to Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and central Arizona. Type locality: Caliente, Lincoln County, 

 Nevada. Aug.-Oct. 



8. Sphaeralcea Munroana (Dougl.) Spach. Munroe's Desert-mallow. Fig. 3175. 



Malva Munroana Dougl. in Lindl. Bot. Reg. 16:^/. 1306. 1830. 

 Nuttallia Munroana Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phila. 7: 16. 1834. 

 Malvastriim Munroanum A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. II. 4: 21. 1849. 

 Sphaeralcea Munroana Spach ex A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 22: 292. 1887. 

 Malveopsis Munroanum Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 1:86. 1891. 



Suffrutescent, stems 1 to several, erect or ascending, 3-8 dm. high, ashy pubescent through- 

 out, or glabrate below. Leaves ovate to orbicular, 1-3.5 cm. long and broad, cordate to truncate 

 at base, 3-lobed, the lobes rounded to acute; inflorescence thyrsoid-paniculate, compact, of few- 

 flowered axillary clusters ; calyx 4-5 mm. long, densely stellate-pubescent, the lobes ovate-acute ; 

 petals 9-12 mm. long, brick-red ; fruit depressed-globose, 6-8 mm. broad, 4 mm. high ; carpels 

 oval-reniform, 1-2-seeded, densely stellate-pubescent on back, reticulate on sides below, smooth 

 above, obtuse at the apex. 



Sagebrush plains, Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition Zones; British Columbia south through eastern 

 Washington and Oregon to Inyo County, California, and east to Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. Type locality: 

 plains of the Columbia. Aug.-Oct. 



Sphaeralcea Munroana subsp. subrhomboidea (Rydb.) Kearney, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 19:85. 1935. 

 (Sphaeralcea subrhomboidea Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 40: 59, 60. 1913.) Leaves cleft more than halfway to the 

 midrib, or even 3-parted, subcuneate at the base. Eastern Oregon to Utah and Wyoming. Type locality: 

 Wasatch County, Utah. 



9. Sphaeralcea grossulariaefolia (Hook. & Arn.) Rydb. Currant-leaved 



Desert-mallow. Fig. 3176. 



Sida grossulariaefolia Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey 326. 1840. 

 Malvastriim grossulariaefolia A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. II. 4: 21. 1849. 

 Malvastriim coccincum var. grossulariaefolium Terr, in Stansbury Exp. 384. 1852. 

 Sphaeralcea pedata A. Gray (in part), Proc. Amer. Acad. 22: 291. 1887. Not Torr. 1849. 

 Sphaeralcea grossulariaefolia Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 40:58. 1913. 



Perennial from a woody taproot and crown, with few erect or ascending stems 5-11 dm. 

 high, whitish-canescent throughout. Leaves deltoid to broadly ovate in outline, usually cordate 

 at the base, 2-4.5 cm. long, pedately deeply cleft or parted, the divisions usually again_ parted, 

 coarsely and irregularly toothed; inflorescence thyrsoid-glomerate; calyx 5-10 mm. high, the 

 lobes ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; petals grenadine, 8-20 mm. long; fruit hemispherical, 5-8 

 mm. wide; carpels 2.5-3.5 mm. high, nearly orbicular in outline, shallowly and narrowly notched, 

 dehiscent portion erect or nearly so, broadly deltoid-ovate, obtuse at the apex, indehiscent part 

 forming about one-half the carpel, finely reticulate. 



Dry plains and hillsides. Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition Zones; south-central Washington and Idaho 

 south to Lassen County, California, and east to Utah. Type locality: Bannock River, Power County, Idaho. 

 Aug.-Oct. 



Sphaeralcea grossulariaefolia subsp. pedata (Torr.) Kearney, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 19:88. 1935. 

 (Sphaeralcea pedata Torr. in A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. II. 4: 23. 1849.) Carpels broadly ovate m outline, 

 three-fifths to three-fourths as wide as high, acute at the apex, often mucronate or even cuspidate. Eastern 

 Oregon to Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Type locality: "Moving Fork, 1st Camp, Utah. Collected by 

 Fremont's Expedition in 1845-47. 



6. MALVASTRUM A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. II. 4: 21. 1849. 



Herbs and shrubs with simple, orbicular, angular, or lobed leaves, more or less_ stellate- 

 pubescent throughout. Leaves alternate. Inflorescence capitate, interrupted-spicate, or 

 paniculate, few- to many-fiowered. Involucellate bractlets 1-3. or rarely wanting. Flow- 

 ers perfect, white, pink, or rose-purple. Stamineal column antheriferous at the summit. 

 Style-branches filiform; stigmas capitate. Fruit depressed-globose or discoid, pubescent 

 at the summit, at least when young. Carpels several, 1-ovuled, dehiscent; seeds ascending, 

 irregularly minutely puberulent, filling the carpel; embryo curved. [Name coined by 

 De Candolle, meaning False Mallow.] 



