Plant: Subshrub; to 1 m tall, stellate-tomentulose

Leaves: broadly ovate, mostly 3-7 cm long, sharply serrate

INFLORESCENCE: compact panicle

Flowers: calyx 6-8 mm long; petals 9-15 mm long; staminal column 3-4 mm long, pallid; styles 5

Fruit: a schizocarp, more or less cylindrical, 6-7 mm long, 7-9 mm diameter, coarsely stellate-pubescent; mericarps 5, apically acute, 3-seeded. SEEDS 2 mm long

Misc: In open arid habitats; 550-900 m (1800-3100 ft); flowering throughout the year

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

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Herbaceous perennials, to 1 m tall, stems erect, herbage bluish-green, (tomentulose) covered with short, matted or tangled, soft, wooly, stellate-tipped hairs.

Leaves: Alternate, broadly ovate, mostly 3-7 cm long, with cordate bases and sharply serrate margins, surfaces bluish-green.

Flowers: Yellow, with 5 flattened and rounded petals 9-15 mm long, calyx 6-8 mm long, staminal column 3-4 mm long, pallid, styles 5, flowers borne in compact panicles.

Fruits: Cylindrical schizocarps 6-7 mm long and 7-9 mm diameter, with coarsely stellate-pubescent surfaces and 5 apically acute mericarps (sections). Seeds 3 per mericarp, 2 mm long.

Ecology: Found in open and arid habitats, from 2,000-3,000 ft (610-914 m); flowering throughout the year.

Distribution: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas.

Notes: This species is a subshrub with bluish-green, heart-shaped leaves with toothy margins and flowers with 5 small, rounded petals and exserted yellow stamen column with yellow anthers, as well as 5 exserted styles (these exserted beyond the stamen column).

Ethnobotany: Specific uses for this species are unknown, but other species in the genus have uses.

Etymology: Abutilon from the Arabic word for a mallow-like plant, and malacum likely means soft.

Synonyms: None

Editor: LCrumbacher, 2012