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Key to families | Table of families and genera

This text currently parallels The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, Second Edition that is now available at the University of California Press.

Text appearing in blue on this page will not appear in the printed book; it will be displayed only on the Web. Specimen numbers are hyperlinked to records in the Consortium of California Herbaria data view where possible. Taxa are hyperlinked to entries in the Jepson Interchange via the "[Online Interchange]" link.

 

SPHAERALCEA GLOBEMALLOW

John C. La Duke


Annual, perennial herb, subshrub, canescent to stellate-hairy, with longer hairs or not.
Leaf: petioled; blade lance- linear to triangular, entire to deeply dissected.
Inflorescence: raceme-like ( flowers clustered in bract axils) or panicle; bractlets (0)1–3, inconspicuous, generally deciduous, thread-like.
Flower: petals obovate, white, lavender, pink, rose-pink, salmon- or red-orange, or apricot; filament tube hairs 0 or stellate, anthers generally ± yellow or ± purple; stigmas head-like.
Fruit: segments 9–17, 1–2-seeded, below indehiscent, strongly net-veined, above dehiscent, smooth.
Seed: gray, black, or brown.
± 50 species: arid Am. (Greek: globe mallow, from fruit shape) Polyploidy, intermediates common.
Unabridged references: [Fryxell 1988 Syst Bot Monogr 25:421–438]

Key to Sphaeralcea

1. Annual ..... S. coulteri

1' Subshrub (flower 1st yr or not)

2. Lvs ± lance-linear ..... S. angustifolia

2' Lvs wider than lance-linear

3. Lvs deeply divided

4. Sepals < 11 mm ..... S. grossulariifolia

4' Sepals 13–15 mm ..... S. rusbyi var. eremicola

3' Lvs often lobed but not deeply divided

5. Infl an open panicle, occasionally dense in bud ..... S. ambigua (in part)

6. Petals red-orange to apricot ..... var. ambigua

6' Petals lavender to pink ..... var. rosacea

5' Infl raceme-like or a dense panicle

7. Lvs coarsely dentate ..... S. munroana

7' Lvs entire, ± wavy, crenate, or finely dentate

8. Lf markedly wrinkled abaxially ..... S. ambigua var. rugosa

8' Lf ± not wrinkled abaxially

9. Hairs coarse; leaves gray-green; fruit segment 4.5–5 mm, dehiscent part ± 60% of segment ..... S. emoryi var. emoryi

9' Hairs fine; leaves generally yellow-green; fruit segment 2.5–3 mm, dehiscent part < 20% of segment ..... S. orcuttii

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Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].
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