Gila manroot Gila manroot

Megarrhiza gilensis Greene, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 8: 97. 1881

Leaf blades deeply 5–7-lobed, 4–10 cm wide, <surfaces not glaucous>. Flowers: sepals (pistillate) vestigial; petals 3–4 mm (pistillate) or 3–3.5 mm (staminate), corolla white, rotate; staminodia present but very inconspicuous in pistillate flowers. Capsules yellowish green, globose to subglobose or short-ellipsoid, 2.5–3 cm, surface densely echinate, spinules rigid, 2–3(–5) mm. Seeds 2–4, ovate to suborbiculate, slightly compressed, 10–12 mm. 2n = 30.

Flowering (Dec–)Feb–Apr. Desert flats and washes, stream beds, canyon bottoms and slopes, desert scrub, chaparral, oak, riparian zones; (500–)600–1500 m; Ariz., N.Mex.; Mexico (Sonora).