Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Slender annual, sprawling to erect, 5-60 cm; hairs few, long, soft, with well developed taproot.

Leaves: Usually greenish, ovate to orbicular, 15-45 mm, wider than long, triangular or cordate, thin, lobes 3-5 coarsely toothed.

Flowers: Generally raceme-like, flowers clustered in axils, tip generally leafy; pedicel longer than calyx, petals 8-15 mm, salmon-orange, anthers yellow.

Fruits: Mericarps 1-seeded, about as long as wide, 2-2.7 mm, dehiscent section smaller than body.

Ecology: Found on desert flats, in sandy or fine-textured soils, and along arroyos below 2,500 ft (762 m); flowers January-May.

Distribution: sw AZ, se CA, nw MEX

Notes: One of the more common spring wildflowers, often carpeting large areas.

Ethnobotany: Unknown for this species, many other uses for other plants in the genus.

Etymology: Sphaeralcea is from Greek sphaira, a globe, and alcea, a related genus, while coulteri is named for Dr. Thomas coulter (1793-1843) an Irish botanist who was the first to collect in Arizona.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley, 2010