Malvastrum leptophyllum A. Gray, Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 17. 1852; Malveopsis leptophylla (A. Gray) Kuntze; Sphaeralcea janeae (S. L. Welsh) S. L. Welsh; S. leptophylla var. janeae S. L. Welsh

Plants perennial. Stems ascending, white to silvery, 1–4(–6) dm, silvery stellate-lepidote. Leaf blades white to silvery, linear to triangular, mostly unlobed, proximalmost blades 3-parted, rarely with nonfiliform lobes, 1–3.5 cm, not rugose, base truncate to cuneate, margins entire, surfaces silvery stellate-lepidote. Inflorescences racemose, lax, open, 3–12-flowered, tip not leafy; involucellar bractlets silvery-lepidote. Flowers: sepals 4.5–5.5(–7) mm; petals red-orange, 8–15 mm; anthers yellow. Schizocarps flattened-spheric to conic; mericarps 7–9, 2.5–3.5 × 2–3 mm, thick-coriaceous, nonreticulate dehiscent part 20–40% of height, tip muticous-mucronulate, indehiscent part usually wider than dehiscent part, sides coarsely reticulate. Seeds 1 per mericarp, brown, usually glabrous. 2n = 20.

Flowering spring–summer. Dry rocky areas; 1500–1800 m; Ariz., Colo., Nev., N.Mex., Tex., Utah; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora).