Plant: shrub; to 2.5(-4) m tall, densely and roughly pubescent

Leaves: ovate (1-2 times as long as wide), obscurely denticulate, mostly 4-8 cm long

INFLORESCENCE: solitary in the leaf axils or on axillary racemes

Flowers: calyx 5-7 mm long; petals blue-lavender, 12-21 mm long

Fruit: FRUITS sparsely pubescent schizocarp, 7-8 mm long; mericarps ca. 10, winged and often purplish distally, usually with a solitary seed in the basal cell, 2 abortive ovules in the upper cell. SEEDS 1.9 mm long, minutely scabridulous

Misc: Sandy washes; 150-500 m (500-1500 ft); Mar-Oct

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 4 m tall, stems erect, gray-yellow, herbage densely and roughly pubescent.

Leaves: Alternate, broadly ovate, 4-11 cm long, with acute tips, cordate (heart-shaped bases), and obscurely denticulate margins, blades borne on stout petioles with stipules 2-5 mm long.

Flowers: Pink or light purple or lavender and drying blue, cup-like with 5 overlapping petals, these 10-15 mm long, calyx 5-7 mm long and lobed for half its length, styles 6-11, stigmas head-like, anthers at the tip of the filament tube, flowers borne solitary in the leaf axils or on axillary racemes with flowering stalks 2-17 mm long.

Fruits: Sparsely pubescent to glabrous schizocarps 7-8 mm long, with 10 winged mericarps (segments), the wings to 6 mm long and 3 mm wide, spreading and papery, fruits often purplish distally. Seeds dark brown, 1.9 mm long, with roughened surfaces, usually solita

Ecology: Found in rocky canyons and sandy washes, from 350-1,500 ft (106-457 m); flowering March-October.

Distribution: Arizona, California; Mexico.

Notes: This species has large and showy lavender flowers, and can get quite tall under favorable circumstances.

Ethnobotany: Unknown.

Etymology: Horsfordia is named after Frederick Hinsdale Horsford (1855-1923), a New England botanist and collector, and alata means with appendaged wings or flanges, usually the stems or leaf petioles.

Synonyms: Horsfordia palmeri, Sida alata

Editor: LCrumbacher2012