Palmleaf globemallow Palmleaf globemallow

Malvastrum pedatifidum A. Gray, Boston J. Nat. Hist. 6: 160. 1850; Sidalcea atacosa Buckley

Plants perennial. Stems erect, green to light gray, 1.5–3 dm, stellate-pubescent. Leaf blades green to light gray, triangular, pedately divided, lobes relatively narrow, 1–2.8 cm, not rugose, base truncate to cordate, margins coarsely toothed, surfaces green to light gray stellate-canescent. Inflorescences racemose, open, few-flowered, tip not leafy; involucellar bractlets green to tan. Flowers: sepals 6–8 mm; petals red-orange, 8–12 mm; anthers yellow. Schizocarps hemispheric to flat-hemispheric; mericarps 15–20, 4 × 2–2.4 mm, chartaceous, nonreticulate dehiscent part 60–75% of height, tip acute, indehiscent part wider than dehiscent part. Seeds 1 per mericarp, brown to black, glabrous or pubescent. 2n = 10.

Flowering spring–fall. Sandy or rocky slopes; 50–200 m; Tex.; Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas).

Sphaeralcea pedatifida has finely divided, thin leaves. It is known from western Texas.