Sidalcea malviflora

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sidalcea malviflora

ssp. malviflora
Conservation status
Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Sidalcea
Species:	S. malviflora
Binomial name
*Sidalcea malviflora* (DC.) A.Gray ex Benth.

Sidalcea malviflora is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common name dwarf checkerbloom, or dwarf checkermallow.

Description

Sidalcea malviflora is somewhat variable in appearance and there are many subspecies. In general it is a perennial herb growing from a woody caudex and rhizome, its stem reaching about 60 centimeters in maximum height. It is sparsely to densely hairy in texture. The leaf blades are variable in shape, but are often divided deeply into several lobes. The inflorescence is a dense or loose array of several flowers. The flower has five petals in shades of bright to dark pink, often with white veining, and measuring one to over three centimeters in length.

Subspecies and endemics

There are over ten subspecies, some of which are endemic and rare:

S. m. ssp. dolosa is endemic to the San Bernardino Mountains.^[1]
S. m. ssp. patula (Siskiyou checkerbloom) is limited to southern Oregon and far northern California.^[2]
S. m. ssp. purpurea (purple-stemmed checkerbloom) is endemic and limited to the California coast just north of the San Francisco Bay Area.^[3]

Distribution

Sidalcea malviflora is native to the west coast of the United States from Washington to California as well as Baja California, where it is a common plant of the chaparral and other habitat types.

Cultivation

Several cultivars have been developed for use as ornamental plants.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sidalcea malviflora.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.