MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 



279 



high, erect, much branched, downy-hairy. 

 Leaves alternate, one to two inches long, 

 ovate to lance-shaped, scallop-toothed, 

 downy-hairy, with base rounded or abruptly 

 narrowed to petioles about half as long as 

 the blades ; at the base of some of the 

 larger leaves is a small, pointed tubercle, 

 which gives the plant its name though it is 

 hardly long enough or sharp enough to be 

 called a spine. Flowers light yellow, only 

 about a quarter-inch broad, on short axillary 

 peduncles ; calyx with five teeth, shorter than 

 the obovoid petals; styles five with undi- 

 vided stigmas, surrounded by united sta- 

 mens. Fruit ovoid, containing five carpels, 

 each splitting at the top into two beaks. 

 Seeds triangular, smooth, dark brown. 

 (Fig. 195.) 



Means of control 



Deep hoe-cutting while in early bloom. 

 Mowing the plants leaves stubs, which hasten 

 to produce new stalks and require atten- Fi. 195. - Prickly Sida 



tion a second time ; but deep cutting kills. 



(Sida spinosa). X i. 



PAROQUET BUR 



(Sida, acuta, Burm.) 

 (Sida stipulata, Cav.) 



Native. Annual or perennial. Propagates by seed. 



Time of bloom: June to November. 



Seed-time: July to December. 



Range: The Gulf States from Florida westward. 



Habitat : Cultivated crops, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



Sheep are grown in the South more for mutton than for fleece, 

 but the value of the latter is annually damaged to a large amount 

 by the hooked carpels of this weed, the distribution of which is 

 almost entirely due to animal transportation. 



