88 MALVACEAE 



arida Rose, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 5: 177. 1899.) Differs from the other forms of Emoryi in having the 

 indehiscent part of the carp 

 broader leaves. Southeaster 

 locality: Guaymas, Sonora. 



arida Rose, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 5: 177. 1899.) Differs from the other forms of Emoryi in having the 

 indehiscent part of the carpel distinctly narrower than the dehiscent part; usually glabrous seeds; and shorter, 

 broader leaves. Southeastern California to southern Nevada and through Arizona and bonora to Sinaloa. Type 



4. Sphaeralcea ambigua A. Gray. Desert-mallow or Desert-hollyhock. Fig. 3171. 



Sphaeralcea Emoryi A. Gray in Ives Rep. 8. 1860. Not Torrey, 1849. 

 Sphaeralcea ambigua A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 22:292. 1887. 

 Sphaeralcea Macdougalii Rose & Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 16: 13. 1912. 

 Sphaeralcea ambigua var. Keckii Munz, Bull. S. Calif. Acad. 31 : 68. 1932. 



Suffrutescent with numerous erect stems 6-10 dm. high from a thick, woody crown, densely 

 white- or yellowish-canescent throughout. Leaves thickish-rugose, prominently veined beneath, 

 broadly ovate, deltoid, to nearly orbicular in outline, cordate at the base, rather shallowly 3-lobed 

 near the middle, 1-^ cm. long, nearly to quite as broad, coarsely crenate to crenate-dentate ; 

 inflorescence open panicled or rarely narrowly thyrsoid ; calyx 6-20 mm. high, lobes lanceolate, 

 attenuate-acuminate, 2-4 times as long as the tube; petals grenadine, 15-35 mm. long; fruit 

 hemispherical, 6-12 mm. wide, usually not over half as high as broad; carpels with chartaceous 

 walls, 3 . 5-6 mm. high, galeate, narrowly and deeply notched, dehiscent portion erect, prommently 

 beaked, forming about two-thirds of the carpel; indehiscent portion prominently and coarsely 

 reticulate, usually 2-seeded. 



Dry rocky slopes and margins of sandy washes, Upper and Lower Sonoran Zones; Colorado and Mojave 

 Deserts and the desert slopes of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California, to Utah, Arizona, and northern 

 Sonora and Lower California. Type locality: Big Canyon of the Colorado. April-July. 



Sphaeralcea ambigua subsp. rosacea (Munz & Jtn.) Kearney, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 19:46. 1935. 

 {Sphaeralcea purpurea Parish ex Jepson, Man. Fl. PI. Calif. 635. 1925.) Petals purplish pink, drying violet; 

 anthers usually purple instead of yellow or orange. Sandy washes and rocky hillsides of the Lower Sonoran 

 Zone from Palm Springs to southwestern Arizona and northern Lower California. Type locality: Palm Springs, 

 Riverside County, California. 



Sphaeralcea ambigua subsp. monticola Kearney, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 19:47. 1935. {Sphaeralcea 

 pulchella Jepson, Man. Fl. PI. Calif. 635. 1925. Not Philippi, 1892.) Inflorescence narrowly thyrsoid; plant 

 herbaceous above the crown; stems seldom over 5 dm. high; leaves 3 cm. or less in length, thin, not rugose. 

 Rocky slopes of desert mountain ranges at elevations of 4,000 to 7,000 feet from eastern San Bernardino County, 

 California, to west-central Nevada and Utah. Type locality : Panamint Mountains, Inyo County, California. 



Sphaeralcea ambigua subsp. rugosa Kearney, Univ. CaliL Pub. Bot. 19:49. 1935. Similar to subspecies 

 monticola but pubescence yellowish instead of whitish; leaves rugose, thick; carpels finely reticulate. Sandy 

 soil, southern San Bernardino County southward along the western edge of the Colorado Desert, California, into 

 northern Lower California. Type locality: Idyllwild, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, California. 



Sphaeralcea ambigua var. aculeita Jepson, Fl. Calif. 2: 503. 1936. Leaves ovate-oblong, subhastately 

 3-lobed, the middle lobe much longer than the lateral ones; carpels 6-8 mm. long. Western and central Mojave 

 Desert, California. Type locality: West Palmdale, Los Angeles County. 



5. Sphaeralcea Rusbyi supsp. eremicola (Jepson) Kearney. Rusby's Desert- 



mallow. Fig. 3172. 



sphaeralcea eremicola Jepson, Man. Fl. PI. Calif. 635. 1925. 



Sphaeralcea Rusbyi subsp. eremicola Kearney, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 19:56. 1935. 



Several erect or ascending stems 5-8.5 dm. high from a heavy, woody crown, sparsely 

 pubescent throughout or glabrate in age. Leaves thin, broadly ovate, deltoid, to nearly orbicular, 

 cordate at the base, 1.5-3 cm. long, pedately 5-parted or divided, the divisions cuneate-obovate 

 to oblanceolate, few-cleft or coarsely toothed; inflorescence a few-flowered thyrse or panicle; 

 calyx more densely pubescent than the leaves, 11-14 mm. long, the lobes lanceolate to deltoid, 

 acuminate, about 3 times as long as the tube ; petals grenadine, 10-20 mm .long ; fruit truncate- 

 ovoid, about half as high as the calyx ; carpels shallowly and broadly notched, dehiscent portion 

 erect, obtuse and muticous at the apex, indehiscent portion forming about one-fifth to two-fifths 

 of the carpel, finely and faintly reticulate. 



Desert slopes, Upper Sonoran Zone; known only from the type locality. Emigrant Canyon, Panamint Moun- 

 tains, Inyo County, at an altitude of 4,200 feet. April-May. 



6. Sphaeralcea angustifolia var. cuspidata A. Gray. Narrow-leaved Desert- 



mallow. Fig. 3173. 



Sida stellata Torr. Ann. Lye. N.Y. 2: 171. 1828. Not Cav. 1790. 



Sphaeralcea stellata Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 228. 1838. 



Malva stellata D. Dietr. Syn. PI. 4:816. 1847. 



Sphaeralcea angustifolia var. cuspidata A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 22:293. 1887. 



Sphaeralcea cuspidata Britt. in Britt. & Brown, 111. Fl. 3: 519. 1898. 



Suffrutescent, many erect simple or narrowly paniculate-branched stems 4-12 dm. high from 

 the woody base, finely stellate-puberulent throughout when young, stems and upper surfaces of 

 leaves glabrate in age. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, sometimes obscurely lobed at the base, crenu- 

 late, 2-7 cm. long; flowers in few-flowered axillary clusters; calyx 5-6 mm. high, the lobes 

 ovate, acuminate; petals emarginate, 8-12 mm. long, saffron-red; carpels 4-6 mm. high, 1-3- 

 seeded, cuspidate, smooth and scarious above, reticulate opposite the lower seed. 



Sandy desert washes, Lower and Upper Sonoran Zones; rare in California (Indio, Desert Center) and at 

 Santa Monica, where it is probably introduced, and Arizona to Colorado, Texas, and Coahuila. Type locality: 

 sources of the Arkansas River. Aug.-Oct. 



