Mangrove mallow Mangrove mallow

Malache scabra B. Vogel in C. J. Trew, Pl. Select. 9: 50, plate 90. 1772, not Pavonia scabra C. Presl 1835

Shrubs, 1–4 m, sometimes supported on other vegetation. Stems minutely stellate-hairy. Leaves: stipules early-deciduous, obscure; petiole to 1/2 length of blade; blade concolorous, broadly ovate, 6–18 cm, base subcordate, margins obscurely dentate to subentire, apex acuminate, sparsely stellate-hairy. Inflorescences terminal racemes. Pedicels 1–4 cm; involucellar bractlets ca. 8, lanceolate, 8.8–10 × 2.5–4 mm, subglabrous. Flowers: calyx 8–11 mm, minutely stellate-hairy, lobes not prominently veined; corolla tubular, petals pale yellow or yellow-green, not auriculate, 12–18 mm; staminal column with 5 apical teeth; stigmas included. Schizocarps pale green, maturing brown, 10–13 mm diam., woody, glabrous; mericarps narrowed basally, 7–9 mm, smooth, usually 3-pointed apically. Seeds not tufted on hilum.

Flowering year-round. Stream banks, brackish estuaries; 0 m; Fla.; West Indies; Central America; n South America.

Pavonia paludicola has a circum-Caribbean distribution, extending northward to the Bahamas and southern Florida. The species is endangered in Florida, and is known in Collier, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties. It is often found with mangroves. The mericarps are distributed by water.