WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

 
 

Erect to trailing stems, often tangled or vine-like, reach 4–16 inches tall with heart- to lance-shaped, hairy leaves and a single small, orange flower growing from the leaf axils. Note the flower has 5 rounded petals and an erect stamen column with numerous yellow-orange anthers.


FLOWER: April–October (with sufficient moisture). Solitary flowers emerge from the leaf axils on slender stems (peduncles) longer than the leaves; flowers symmetrical, shallow, with 5 rounded petals, each about 3/8 inch wide (1 cm), and 5 green, pointed sepals that bend backwards in fruit. Fruit is a hairy, cylindrical capsule 3/8 inch long (1 cm) with 5 pointed segments.


LEAVES: Alternate. Blades broadly oval 3/8–2 inches long (1–5 cm),  with a heart-shaped base and a pointed to tapering tip; margins coarsely toothed, surfaces covered with fine, scattered, star-shaped hairs.


HABITAT: Dry sandy, rocky soils; mesas, canyons, drainages, slopes, scrub lands; desert grasslands and scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands.


ELEVATION: 4,000–6,200 feet.


RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, TX, UT.


SIMILAR SPECIES: Shrubby Indian Mallow, A. incanum, in southern NM, reaches 3 feet tall and has densely hairy leaves and yellow flowers with a dark red center. Yellow Indian Mallow, A. malacum, also in southern NM, has flowers is clusters.


NM COUNTIES: In eastern and southern NM in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats: Bernalillo, Chaves, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, Otero, San Miguel, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Union.

DWARF  INDIAN  MALLOW

ABUTILON  PARVULUM 

Mallow Family, Malvaceae

Perennial herb or subshrub

THE CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE COPYRIGHTED AND CANNOT BE USED

WITHOUT PERMISSION OF GEORGE OXFORD MILLER

HOME          SCIENTIFIC NAME         FAMILY NAME          COMMON NAME       SEARCH YELLOW          SEARCH RED        


SEARCH BLUE            SEARCH WHITE         SEARCH CACTI         SEARCH LEAFLESS         GLOSSARY

EMAIL ME

• The stamen column has numerous orange stamen (upper arrow).

• A single flower grows on a long stem from the leaf axil (lower arrow).

Broad leaves have a heart-shaped base, pointed tip, and coarse teeth.