Plant: shrub; 2-3 m tall, densely and roughly pubescent

Leaves: ovate to lanceolate (1.5-4 times as long as wide), obscurely denticulate, mostly 4-10 cm long

INFLORESCENCE: solitary in the leaf axils or on axillary racemes

Flowers: calyx 5-6 mm long; petals yellow, 6-9 mm long

Fruit: FRUITS sparsely pubescent schizocarp, 7-8 mm long; mericarps ca. 10, winged and often purplish distally, with a solitary seed in the basal cell and 2 seeds in the upper cell; SEEDS 2.2 mm long, pubescent, the hairs less than 0.5 mm long

Misc: Dry rocky hillsides; 300-1100 m (1000-3500 ft); flowering throughout the year

Notes: dense yellowish hairs cover plant

References: P. Fryxell - Malvaceae - JANAS 27:222-236.J.C. Hickman, ed. The Jepson Manual.ASU specimens.

Common Name: Newberry's velvetmallow

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Shrubs 2-3 m, often thin and few-branched, branches with yellowish pubescence.

Leaves: Leaves thick, pubescent and soft, ovate to lanceolate, 4-10 cm long.

Flowers: Solitary in the leaf axils or on axillary racemes, small, calyx 5-6 mm long, petals 6-9 mm long, bright orange, to yellow.

Fruits: Schizocarp sparsely puberulent 7-8 mm with winged mericarps or capsules, lower mericarp chamber 1 seeded, upper chamber 1-2 seeded.

Ecology: Found on dry sites often on volcanic or granitic substrates on rocky or gravelly slopes, canyons, and arroyos from 1,000-3,500 ft (305-1067 m), flowers throughout the year.

Distribution: Ranges across southern Arizona, south to Baja California and Sonora and west to California.

Notes: Distinguished in the genus by the yellow flowers and within the family by the calyx not being inflated and having fewer mericarps than Abutilon and having a prominent wing at the apex of the mericarp.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Horsfordia is named after Frederick Hinsdale Horsford (1855-1923), a New England botanist and collector, while newberryi is named after John Strong Newberry (1822-1892), an American physician, geologist, paleontologist and botanist.

Synonyms: None

Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011