Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Herbs, shrubs, or small trees, to 2.5 m tall, vegetation covered with pubescence, the hairs stellate or straight, branches graceful and erect, ascending, or decumbent.

Leaves: Broadly ovate, to elliptic, base obtuse to cordate, to 4 cm wide and 8 cm long, margins shallowly dentate, stipules narrow, linear-lanceolate, densely pubescent or tomentose, especially on the underside.

Flowers: Small yellow flowers (fading reddish), borne in axillary glomerules, on peduncles or sessile. Petals spatulate, persistent, stamens 5, opposite petals, calyx 5-toothed, the teeth shorter than the tube, these spreading hirsute. Ovary sessile, style bearded.

Fruits: Single-seeded obovoid capsule, pubescent, dehiscing into 2-valves. Seed dark brown.

Ecology: Found on dry hillsides, arid flats, canyons, rocky mesas, slopes, and along washes, from 3,000-4,500 ft (914-1372 m); flowering much of the year.

Notes: Look for this species under Waltheria americana, among others.

Ethnobotany: An infusion of the pounded buds, bark, leaves, and roots was taken to lose weight and to treat pulmonary complications, and the buds were chewed and given to infants as a laxative.

Etymology: Waltheria is named for the 18th century German botanist Augustin Fredrich Walther, while indica means of or from India.

Synonyms: Many, see Tropicos

Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011