Plant: subshrub; to 1 m tall, the stems with spreading simple hairs 0.5-1 mm long and smaller glandular hairs

Leaves: ovate-acuminate, dentate, softly tomentose

INFLORESCENCE: an open panicle

Flowers: calyx 5-7 mm long; petals ca. 1 cm long, pale yellow (drying reddish); staminal column ca. 6 mm long, pubescent; styles 5

Fruit: FRUITS schizocarp, flattened, puberulent, ca. 6 mm diameter; mericarps 5, dorsally rounded; SEEDS 3 mm long, without endocarp

Misc: Arid mountains and canyons; 1100-1500 m (3500-5000 ft; Apr-Dec

REFERENCES: Fryxell, Paul A. 1994. Malvaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27(2), 222-236.

Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Herbaceous or subshrubby annuals, to 1 m tall, stems erect and villous, at least below, herbage velvety tomentose with spreading simple hairs 0.5-1 mm long and smaller glandular hairs.

Leaves: Alternate, broadly ovate, to 10 cm wide, with cordate bases and long-acuminate tips, dentate margins and softly tomentose surfaces.

Flowers: Orange-yellow, often fading purplish, large and showy, petals wedge-shaped, 8-12 mm long, calyx 5-7 mm long, staminal column to 6 mm long, pubescent, styles 5, flowers borne in an open panicle.

Fruits: Flattened schizocarps with puberulent surfaces, to 6 mm in diameter with 5, dorsally rounded mericarps (sections), the lateral walls of the carpels persistent but fragile and becoming torn. Seeds 3 mm long, without an endocarp.

Ecology: Found on rich soils or dry slopes in arid mountains and canyons, from 3,500-5,000 ft (1067-1524 m); flowering April-December.

Distribution: Arizona only.

Notes: This plant is similar to an Abutilion with bluish-green, heart-shaped leaves with toothed margins and yellow flowers with an exserted stamen column, but the petals of this species are fairly large and yellow with orange tips. Look for this species in Arizona in Pima and Santa Cruz counties.

Ethnobotany: Unknown.

Synonyms: Anoda caudatifolia, Anoda urophylla, Sida caudatifolia

Editor: LCrumbacher2012

Etymology: Anoda is either a Sinhalese (Ceylonese) name for a species of Abutilon, or Umberto Quattrocchi gives two alternative etymologies: (1) "from the Greek a, "without," and odous, odontos, "a tooth," for the leaves; and (2) from the Greek a, "without," and the Latin nodus, "a joint or node," since the flowering stems lack nodes; the meaning of abutiloides is unknown.