Sphaeralcea ambigua

 

Sphaeralcea ambigua (globemallow) ( )

Malvaceae

  • The large number of orange-colored flowers produced by this multi-stemmed mallow over a year provides a steady source of pollen and nectar to honeybees and mallow-specializing bees. Flower color variants occur, including ones with white, purple, red, or grenadine hues. A low-growing perennial herb, desert mallow has long panicles of flowers and roundish, shallow-lobed leaves. The leaves have star-shaped hairs on them that irritate the eyes if accidentally rubbed into them. From dry rocky slopes to washes and the banks of springs, this is one of the most adaptable of the mallow species, which seldom exhibit so much drought tolerance. Below 3,500 feet, this species blooms year around, although each plant has an individual bloom time. "Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, 1988". 

  • Orange petals and scurfy foliage. It is an ephemeral or small perennial bush. Animal Food: dogs were said to sometimes eat globemallow when out in the desert hunting lizards and rabbits. Medicine: the bark was removed from the roots by pounding them on a metate. The resulting somewhat frothy and slimy pulp was made into a tea taken as a remedy for diarrhea and sore throat, and was also used as eye drops. "People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians".

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