MALLOW FAMILY 87 



Plants annual or biennial, not markedly suffrutescent; smooth, dehiscent part of the carpel forming less than 

 one-third of the carpel, much narrower than the indehiscent part. 



Carpels 2. S-;-3 mm. high, notch about one-third the width of the carpel; plant densely yellow-canescent, 



biennial. 1. S. Orcuttii. 



Carpels 1.2-2.5 mm. high, notch not over one- fourth the width of the carpel; plant sparsely pubescent, 

 bright green, annual. 2. S. Coulteri. 



Plants perennial, distinctly suffrutescent; smooth dehiscent part of the carpel forming over one-third of the 

 carpel, as wide or wider than the indehiscent portion. 

 Indehiscent part of the carpels rugose or muricate dorsally; reticulations coarse, prominent. 



Fruit truncate-conical, not strongly depressed; carpels cuspidate, not conspicuously galeate. 



3. 5". Emoryi. 

 Fruit hemispherical or nearly so, strongly depressed; carpels muticous or mucronulate, conspicuously 

 galeate. 4. 5. ambigua. 



Indehiscent part of the carpels smooth dorsally; reticulations fine, usually inconspicuous. 



Calyx conspicuously more densely pubescent than the stems and leaves. 5. .S. Rusbyi eremicola. 

 Calyx and leaves equally pubescent. 



Leaves 3-10 times as long as wide, basal lateral lobes not over one-tenth as long as the mid-lobe; 



carpels oblong-ovate, twice as high as broad. 6. 5. angustifolia cuspidata. 



Leaves about as wide as long, lateral lobes usually equaling mid-lobe; carpels broadly ovate to 

 nearly orbicular, nearly or quite as broad as high. 



Carpels acute at ape.x, mucronate or cuspidate; fruit equaling or higher than the calyx; leaves 

 thick, rugose. 7. S. parvifolia. 



Carpels rounded or obtuse at apex, sometimes muticous; fruit shorter than the calyx; leaves 

 thin, not rugose. 



Herbage bright green, sparsely pubescent; leaves cuneate to subcordate, rarely strongly 



cordate. 8. S. Munroana. 



Herbage densely whitish- or grayish-pubescent; leaves usually strongly cordate. 



9. S. grossulariacfolia. 



1. Sphaeralcea Orcuttii Rose. Orcutt's Desert-mallow. Fig. 3168. 



Sphaeralcea Orcuttii Rose, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 1:289. 1893. 



Annual or biennial, 1 to several erect stems 5-10 dm. high from a large taproot, canescent- 

 stellate throughout. Leaves ovate-lanceolate to subhastate, 2-5 cm. long, thick, entire to slightly 

 crenulate ; petioles 5-25 mm. long ; flowers crowded on flexuous peduncles in narrow panicles ; 

 calyx 4-7 mm. long, the lobes incurved over mature fruit; petals 8-12 mm. long, emarginate, 

 scarlet; fruit depressed-globose, densely puberulent; carpels about 2-3 mm. high, usually 1- 

 seeded, deeply reticulate on the sides except on the short, sharply incurved empty portion. 



Washes and sandy places, Lower Sonoran Zone; the Colorado Desert, California, into Arizona and north- 

 western Sonora and middle Lower California. Type locality: near Canso Creek, Colorado Desert. March-Aug. 



2. Sphaeralcea Coulteri (S. Wats.) A. Gray. Coulter's Desert-mallow. Fig. 3169. 



Malvastrum Coulteri S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 11: 125. 1876. 

 Sphaeralcea Coulteri A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 22: 291. 1887. 



Annuals, sparsely pubescent throughout, stems several, erect or ascending, up to IS dm. 

 high, usually less than 5 dm. high. Leaves thin, soft, broadly ovate to orbicular, sparsely 

 pubescent and bright green, truncate or cordate at the base, obscurely to distinctly 3-5-lobed, 

 1 . 5-3 cm. long, coarsely crenate ; inflorescence thyrsoid ; calyx 5-7 mm. high, lobes ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate; petals salmon-orange, 8-15 mm. long; fruit hemispherical; carpels 1.5-2.5 

 mm. high, reniform, shallowly notched, truncate or rounded at the apex, muticous, finely stellate- 

 pubescent dorsally, indehiscent part two-thirds to three-fourths of the carpel, wider than the 

 dehiscent part, prominently fenestrate-reticulate on sides and back. 



Sandy or rocky soil or sometimes in heavy clay. Lower Sonoran Zone; southeastern California through 

 Arizona and Sonora to Sinaloa. Type locality: southeastern California. March-April. 



3. Sphaeralcea Emoryi Torr. Emory's Desert-mallow. Fig. 3170. 



sphaeralcea Emoryi Torr. ex A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. II. 4: 23. 1849. 

 Sphaeralcea angustifolia var. gavisa Jepson, Fl. Calif. 2: 502. 1936. 



Perennial with several to many erect stems 6-12 dm. high, densely gray-canescent through- 

 out. Leaves ovate to ovate-oblong, 2-9 cm. long, 1-6 cm. wide, cordate at the base, angulate or 

 shallowly 3-lobed near the base, crenulate to irregularly crenate, prominently veined beneath ; 

 inflorescence a narrow, interrupted thyrse, leafy to the apex ; calyx 5-10 mm. high, the lobes 

 ovate, acute to lance-acuminate, 1-2 times as long as the tube ; petals pink, lavender or grenadine, 

 1-2 cm. long; fruit truncate-conical, often equaling the calyx; carpels 3.5-6 mm. high, deeply 

 notched, prominently beaked, dehiscent part erect, tipped with cusps 1-1.5 mm. long, indehiscent 

 portion forming one-third to one-half of the carpel, coarsely reticulate, usually 2-seeded. 



Sandy soil or loam in fields and along roadsides, Lower Sonoran Zone; southeastern California to Nevada, 

 Arizona, and northern Lower California. Type locality: valley of the Gila River, Yuma County, Arizona. 

 April-Oct. 



Sphaeralcea Emoryi subsp. variabilis (Cockerell) Kearney, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 19: 39. 1935. {Sphaer- 

 alcea Fendleri var. calif ornica Parish, Zoe 5: 71. 1900.) Similar to the species but with more deeply divided, 

 thinner, greener, less pubescent leaves; carpels with somewhat longer cusps. Southwestern Arizona and southern 

 California in the Lower Sonoran Zone. Type locality: Phoenix, Arizona. 



Sphaeralcea Emoryi subsp. nevadensis Kearney, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 19: 40. 1935. Differs from the 

 species and subspecies variabilis in having thinner walled, finely reticulate carpels, and leaves unlobed, only one- 

 third to one-half as wide as long; and from subspecies arida in having much narrower leaves. Eastern Riverside 

 County, California, to Arizona and Nevada. Type locality: St. Thomas, Nevada. 



Sphaeralcea Emoryi subsp. arida (Rose) Kearney, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 19:41. 1935. (Sphaeralcea 



