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 abgut 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- 
tion a second time; but deep cutting kills. 
Fig. 195. — Prickly Sida 
(Sida spinosa). Xj. 
PAROQUET BUR 
(Sida, acuta, Burm.) 
(Sida sttpuldta, 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. 
