570 MISC. PUBLICATION 42 3, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



9. Sphaeralcea fendleri A. Gray, PL Wright. 1: 21. 1852. 



Sphaeralcea leiocarpa Woot. and Standi., Torrey Bot. Club 

 Bui. 36: 107. 1909. 



Apache County to Coconino County, south to Cochise, Santa Cruz, 

 and Pima Counties, 3,000 to 8,000 feet, commonly in yellow pine 

 forests, sometimes among live oaks at lower elevations, summer and 

 autumn. Southern Colorado to western Texas, Arizona, and northern 

 Mexico. 



This is the characteristic species of the yellow pine zone. It is 

 highly variable in leaf shape and in the reticulation of the carpels, 

 which often is scarcely perceptible (S. leiocarpa). There are two 

 well-marked variants in Arizona: var. albescens Kearney, with very 

 short, velvety- white pubescence, growing in thickets along Sonoita 

 Creek in Santa Cruz County; and var. venusta Kearney, with larger 

 flowers than in the typical form and petals commonly mauve, rather 

 than grenadine, in color, also characterized by usually longer hairs of 

 the stems and leaves. This showy form is rather frequent in rich soil, 

 usually along streams, in the live oak belt and at the lower edge of the 

 yellow pine belt in the mountains of Graham, Cochise, Santa Cruz, and 

 Pima Counties. 



10. Sphaeralcea angustifolia (Cav.) G. Don, Hist, Dichl. PL 1: 465. 



1831. 



Malva angustifolia Cav., Diss. 1: 64. 1786. 



Navajo and Coconino Counties, south to Cochise, Santa Cruz, and 

 Pima Counties, 3,000 to 7,000 feet, roadsides and edges of cultivated 

 fields, May to October. Western Kansas and Colorado to western 

 Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. 



The species is represented in Arizona by var. cuspidata A. Gray (S. 

 cuspidata Britton), distinguished from the typical form of the species 

 by its usually denser pubescence, narrower leaf blades with more 

 pronounced basal teeth, grnadine or grenadine-pink petals, and less 

 connate, narrower, mucronate or cuspidate carpels. A form with 

 broader and more distinctly lobed leaf blades, in the vicinity of 

 Tucson, approaches var. lobata (Wooton) Kearney (S. lobata Wooton). 



11. Sphaeralcea subhastata Coult., Contrib. U. S. Natl. Herbarium 



1: 32. 1890. 



Apache County to Mohave County, south to Cochise and Pima 

 Counties, common on treeless plains and mesas, usually in heavy, 

 relatively impermeable soils, May to October. Western Texas to 

 Arizona and northern Mexico. 



A highly variable species, characterized by low growth (stems less 

 than 50 cm. long) and racemose or, in one variety, subthyrsoid, 

 relatively few-flowered inflorescences. Approximately typical speci- 

 mens have been collected only in Cochise County. The varieties 

 chiefly represented in Arizona are: var. connata Kearney, distinguished 

 especially by having the carpels connate and separating from the axis 

 in a ring, inhabiting the northern counties, 5,000 to 7,000 feet; var. 

 pumila (Woot. and Standi.) Kearney (S. pumila Woot. and Standi.) 

 in the same region, and also in Graham and Cochise Counties, charac- 

 terized by the deeply dissected, sometimes almost divided leaf blades; 

 and var. thyrsoidea Kearney, in Pima County, 2,000 to 3,000 feet, with 



