[Illustration: Sphaeralcea ambigua]
Common names: GLOBEMALLOW, APRICOT-MALLOW, SORE-EYE POPPY,
DESERTMALLOW
Arizona and California deserts: (_Sphaeralcea ambigua_). Peach-pink.
February-May.
Texas-New Mexico deserts: (_Sphaeralcea angustifolia_). Pink.
May-October.
Mallow family. Size: 1 to 5 feet tall, often clustered.
Common throughout all of the Southwest, the Mallows range in size from
small herbs 5 or 6 inches high to coarse, straggling, woody-stemmed
plants with stems 4 or 5 feet long. Their flowers range in color from
white and pale yellow to lavender, apricot, and red. Some species,
including _Ambigua_, grow in large clumps with as many as 100 stems from
a single root. The smaller species often cover the desert floor in early
spring with a dense growth of flowers giving an apricot tinge to the
landscape. Several species flower in spring and again after the summer
rains.
A local belief that hairs of the plant are irritating to the eyes has
given the name “Sore-eye Poppies,” an appellation carried out in the
Mexican name _Mal-de-ojos_. In Lower California, Mallows are called
_Plantas Muy Malas_, meaning very bad plants. In contrast, the Pima
Indian name is translated to mean “a cure for sore eyes.”