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MALVACEAE

MALLOW FAMILY

Steven R. Hill, except as specified

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.

SIDALCEA

CHECKER MALLOW, CHECKERBLOOM

Annual, perennial herb, sometimes from long, creeping rhizomes
Stem generally erect or base ± decumbent
Leaves generally mostly from near stem base; lowest blades generally crenate to shallowly lobed, upper blades generally deeply lobed (generally ± compound)
Inflorescence generally spike- or panicle-like, generally more open in fruit; bracts at pedicel base 2, generally stipule-like; bractlets subtending calyx generally 0(–3)
Flower: calyx lobes = or > tube; petals purple or rose-pink to white; stamen-tube with generally 2 series of ± fused filaments near tip; stigmas linear, on inner side of style branches
Fruit: segments generally 5–10, indehiscent, generally ± beaked, walls thin
Seed 1 per fruit segment
Species in genus: ± 25 species: w North America
Etymology: (Greek: combination of 2 names for mallow)
Reference: [Hitchcock 1957 Univ Wash Publ Biol 18:1–96]
Highly variable and difficult, with many local forms; some plants will not key with certainty. Additional work warranted.

Native

S. oregana (Torr. & A. Gray) A. Gray

Perennial from woody taproot
Stem 3–15 dm, rarely rooting at base; lower stem coarsely stellate to long-bristly
Leaves ± basal; lower blades crenate to deeply lobed; upper blades ± compound, segments entire to deeply lobed
Inflorescence ± spike-like, dense to open; pedicels generally 1–3 mm
Flower: calyx generally ± 5 mm in flower, lobes lanceolate, glabrous to densely and uniformly stellate or bristly; petals 5–18 mm, rose-pink
Fruit: segment 2–3 mm, smooth to lightly net-veined and pitted
Ecology: Meadows, marshes, other wet places
Elevation: < 3000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Northwestern California, Cascade Range, n&c High Sierra Nevada, Great Basin Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: to Washington, Wyoming, Utah
None of the vars. (within subspp.) of C.L. Hitchc. are recognized.

Native

subsp. hydrophila (A. Heller) C.L. Hitchc.


Stem 3–9 dm, generally < 5 mm diam, sometimes rooting at base; lower stem bristly, hairs ± 2 mm
Inflorescence much-branched; units 1.5–2.5 cm, head-like
Flower: calyx ± 6 mm in fruit, fine-stellate
Fruit: segment ± 2.2 mm, smooth, generally glabrous
Chromosomes: 2n=20
Ecology: Uncommon. Wet soil of streambanks, meadows
Elevation: 1100–2300 m.
Bioregional distribution: High North Coast Ranges, Inner North Coast Ranges.Intergrades with subsp. valida
Horticultural information: WET or IRR, DRN: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

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