Plant: Perennial herb; large taproot, the stems trailing to ascending, with scattered coarse stellate hairs

Leaves: oblong-ovate, 2-5 cm long, coarsely pubescent, with ciliate margins

Flowers: solitary in the leaf axils; calyx lobes broadly cordate, overlapping and strongly 5-angled basally; petals (in ours) 5-8 mm long, subequal to calyx; orange-yellow

Fruit: FRUITS schizocarpic, oblate, blackish, glabrous; 8-9 mm diameter, surrounded by inflated calyx; mericarps 8-10, indurate, indehiscent, with long obtuse rostrum or beak, notably reticulate-veined laterally; SEEDS ca. 2 mm long, solitary, minutely pubescent

Misc: In canyons and along waterways; 750-1500 m (2500-5000 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: Perennial herb with a large taproot, stems trailing to ascending, with scattered coarse stellate hairs.

Leaves: Oblong-ovate, 2-5 cm long, coarsely pubescent, with ciliate margins.

Flowers: Solitary in leaf axils, calyx lobes broadly cordate, overlapping and strongly 5-angled basally, petals 5-8 mm long, subequal to calyx; flowers throughout year.

Fruits: 8-9 mm in diameter, surrounded by inflated calyx; mericarps 8-10.

Ecology: Canyons and along waterways; 2,500-5,000 ft (762-1524 m)

Distribution: AZ, s NM, TX, s OK; south to s MEX, and in S. Amer.

Notes: The genus and species is distinguished by the way the calyx forms an inflated lantern that encloses the much smaller fruit, along with it lying or trailing along the ground, the serrate leaves and the sparse stellate hairs all over.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Rhynchosida comes from Greek rhynchos, horn, beak, snout, and sida which Theophrastus called the water lily, while physocalyx comes from Greek physa meaning bladder, or pair of bellows and calyx meaning flower.

Synonyms: Sida physocalyx

Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015