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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

New Mexico Checker-mallow
Sidalcea neomexicana Gray

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Mallow (Malvaceae)
Flowering: May-August
Field Marks: This handsome species is distinguished by its purple flowers, its hairy leaf surfaces, and its usually glaucous stems and leaves.
Habitat: Wet meadows in the mountains.
Habit: Perennial herb with a thickened rootstock.
Stems: Upright, up to 2 1/2 feet tall, smooth or hairy, usually glaucous.
Leaves: Basal and alternate hairy, orbicular, sometimes glaucous, up to 3 inches across, the basal leaves 5- to 9-lobed, with rounded teeth on the lobes, the upper leaves deeply 3- to 5-parted.
Flowers: Several in a raceme, subtended by bracts 1/4-1/2 inch long; flower stalks smooth to hairy.
Sepals: 5, green, united below, 1/6-1/4 inch long, hairy, the teeth pointed.
Petals: 5, purple, free from each other, 1/2-3/4 inch long.
Stamens: Numerous on a central column.
Pistils: Ovary superior.
Fruits: 5- to 9-parted, up to 1/8 inch long, tipped with a hairy beak.
Notes: This species is sometimes grown as an ornamental because of its large, handsome flowers. The petals may be various shades of purple.

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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:28:38 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww55]