DESERT MALLOW (Sphcerdlcea ambigua, Gray). Flowers 

 brick red, showy, about an inch across in wand-like, open 

 panicles, topping whitish, scurfy stems a foot or two high 

 growing in clumps. Leaves grayish green, palmate, promi- 

 nently veined. Common throughout the desert regions of Cali- 

 fornia on open hills and mesas and eastward to Arizona, Ne- 

 vada and Utah. 



For the proper identification of the different genera of the 

 Mallow Family the seed vessels are often needful; and this is 

 particularly the case with Sphaeralcea, whose resemblance to 

 Malvastrum is very great the main distinction being in the 

 fact that the cells of the ovary in Sphseralcea contain two 

 ovules each, while in those of Malvastrum the ovule is solitary. 

 After the identification of a plant as a Sphseralcea, however, 

 the student's difficulties are only begun; for the characters that 

 mark the various described species, run together in a way 

 that makes differentiation exceedingly hard. The plant here 

 pictured has sometimes been called S. Emoryi, Torr., and 

 again S. Munroana, Dougl.; but Mr. S. B. Parish of San Ber- 

 nardino, whose knowledge of the Southern California flora is 

 most thorough, tells me he has the authority of Dr. Asa Gray 

 himself for calling it S. ambigua. 

 118 



