Vascular Plants of the Gila Wilderness

Presented in Association with the
Western New Mexico University Department of Natural Sciences

Sidalcea neomexicana Gray
(New Mexico Checker Mallow)


Family: Malvaceae

Status: Native

Synonyms:
Sidalcea parviflora Greene var. thurberi Robinson ex Gray
Sidalcea neomexicana Gray var. parviflora (Greene) Murray

Sidalcea neomexicana is an erect herb with a raceme of pink flowers on a long flowering stem. It usually has a single stem. The leaves are round and crenate at the base, but the cauline leaves are palmately dissected and the lobes dissected almost to the midvein. The fruit is a schizocarp, a fruit which splits into one-seeded carpels each of which is then known as a mericarp. Sidalcea neomexicana is found in marshy areas at middle to higher elevation.
Please click on an image for a larger file.



Sidalcea neomexicana, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris, Kelly Kindscher & Danielle Walkup, Mogollon Mtns., Willow Creek, Aug. 2, 2008



Sidalcea neomexicana, growth habit, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak Turnoff, Aug. 15, 2008



Sidalcea neomexicana, detail of flower, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak Turnoff, Aug. 15, 2008



Sidalcea neomexicana, closeup of flower and pollinator, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris & Kelly Kindscher, Tularosa River at Apache Creek, Aug. 11, 2009



Sidalcea neomexicana, closeup of schizocarps, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris & Kelly Kindscher, Tularosa River at Apache Creek, Aug. 11, 2009



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