| TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual, perennial herb, shrubs, trees, generally stellate-hairy; juice sticky; inner bark tough, fibrous
Leaves alternate, simple, petioled; blade generally palmately veined or lobed, stipules present
Inflorescence often leafy; whorl or involucre of bractlets often subtending calyx
Flower generally bisexual, radial; calyx lobes 5, margins abutting in bud; petals 5, free (fused at base to filament tube, so falling together); stamens many, filaments fused into a tube surrounding style, tube fused in turn to petal bases; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 5 or more, style branches, stigmas generally 1 or 2 X as many as chambers
Fruit of 5–many disk- or wedge-shaped segments, loculicidal capsule, or berry
Genera in family: 100 genera, 2000 species: worldwide, especially warm regions; some cultivated (e.g., Abelmoschus , okra; Alcea ; Gossypium , cotton; Hibiscus , Malvaviscus )
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Sterculiaceae [Angiosperm phylogeny Group 1998 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 85:531–553; Alverson et al. 1999 Amer J Bot 86:1474–1486; Bayer et al. 1999 Bot J Linn Soc 129:267–303]
Mature fruit important for identification.
Subshrub, densely stellate-tomentose or -scabrous
Stem erect
Leaf: petiole stout; blade lanceolate to round, cordate, ± entire or irregularly fine-toothed
Inflorescence: panicle or flowers solitary in axils; bractlets subtending calyx 0
Flower: petals yellow-orange to red-lavender; stigmas head-like
Fruit: segments 8–12, upper portion dehiscent, with 2 spreading, scarious wings; lower portion seed-bearing, indehiscent, firm, net-veined
Seeds 1–3, white-puberulent
Species in genus: 4 species: sw US, Mex
Etymology: (F.H. Horsford, Vermont, botanical collector)
Reference: [Fryxell 1985 Syst Bot 10:268–272]
| Native |
Stem erect, 10–30 dm, branched above base; hairs velvety, yellow to rusty, stellate
Leaf: blade 3–15 cm, shallowly cordate, entire to crenate
Flower: pedicels 5–10 mm in flower, < 20 mm in fruit; calyx lobes 2–3 mm, ± triangular, acute; petals 8–10 mm, yellow or pale orange
Fruit: segments 8–9, ± 6 mm; wings ovate, ± = lower part
Seeds 2–3 per segment
Ecology: Uncommon. Creosote-bush scrub
Elevation: 100–800 m.
Bioregional distribution: Peninsular Ranges, w Sonoran Desert
Distribution outside California: to sw Arizona, n Mexico
Flowering time: Mar–Apr, Nov–Dec