[Illustration: INDIAN MALLOW LARGE-FLOWERED SIDA]
Leaves mostly palmately nerved; sepals 3-5, more or less united; petals
5; stamens numerous, united into a column; style branched above.
Indian Mallow (_Abutilon incanum_) is a much branched plant, commonly
2-4 ft. tall, with rather small ovate leaves, and yellow flowers nearly
an inch across. It is a profuse bloomer in the summer and fall. Like
other abutilons, it is sometimes called flowering maple because of the
maple-like leaves, and may be easily recognized by the seed-capsules,
which are about ½ inch high and divided into 7-9 cells. The flowers are
typical of the mallow group, having 5 separate petals and numerous
stamens united in a tube around the styles. The plants grow in dry soil
from Arkansas to Mexico and Arizona.
Large-Flowered Sida (_Sida texana_) is a common perennial plant in the
sandy regions of South Texas. The slender, erect stems bear a few
linear-oblong leaves, paler below, and long slender-stalked flowers. The
flowers are pale orange-yellow and have the irregularly-lobed petals
characteristic of the sidas.
The mallow family includes the commercial plants cotton and okra, and
numerous ornamentals, such as hibiscus, hollyhock, and althea.
[Illustration: COPPER MALLOW RED STAR-MALLOW]
Copper Mallow (_Sphæralcea pedatifida_) is often confused with the
following mallow, but may be distinguished by its thin leaves clothed
with a few star-shaped hairs, the 3 linear leaves (bractlets) under the
calyx, and the seed capsules, which have one seed in each division
completely filling the cell. Both have upper leaves divided into 5 parts
and lower leaves into 3 parts. This plant is a low, spreading perennial
which forms clumps about 1½ ft. broad. It grows in sandy or gravelly
soil, Southwestern Texas, in April and May. Several copper mallows are
very abundant in the Southwest.
Red Star-Mallow (_Malvastrum coccineum_) also has star-shaped hairs on
the leaves, but they are very dense and give the leaves a gray, scurfy
appearance. The cells are usually 1-seeded with an empty terminal
portion above. The plant is also called prairie mallow, red false
mallow, and rose moss. It grows in low clumps, spreading or erect, on
prairies from Texas to Southern Canada and blooms from May to August.
[Illustration: MEXICAN APPLE]
Mexican Apple. Turk’s Cap (_Malvaviscus drummondii_) is also called red
mallow. The showy red flowers somewhat resemble a Turkish fez. The broad
petals remain closely wrapped around one another at the base but
spreading above; the stamen column is conspicuously prolonged beyond the
petals. The red apple-like fruits are nearly an inch broad and half as
high. They have a delicious flavor and may be eaten raw or cooked. The
fruits ripen in the late summer and fall, a few weeks after the blooms
appear. They begin to dry soon after ripening and split into sections,
scattering the seeds which are borne in the center.
The plants are perennial, the leafy stems branching and spreading,
forming a clump which is commonly 2-3 feet high. Growing abundantly in
shade along streams in the central and southern parts of the state and
in moist woods in East Texas, it ranges from Florida to Mexico. It is a
desirable plant for cultivation and is hardier but not as showy, as the
large-flowered Turk’s cap (_Malvaviscus grandiflora_), a Mexican plant
now widely cultivated for ornamental purposes in South Texas.
[Illustration: WILD HOLLYHOCK WINE CUP]
Wild Hollyhock. Wine Cup. Fringed Poppy-Mallow (_Callirrhoë digitata_)
grows in dry soil from Illinois and Kansas to Texas, blooming in Texas
in April and May. It is a perennial, 1-1½ ft. high, with smooth, erect,
gray-green stems topped by the flower cluster. The cup-shaped flowers
are on slender stalks, the lower longer than the upper. The upper leaves
are divided into 1-3 linear divisions and the lower into 5-7 divisions.
The petals vary in color from cherry-red to pink and white, often being
quite fringed across the top. The slightly yellow stamens are borne in a
dense oblong column from which the 10 red styles appear after the flower
has been opened several days.
Wine Cup. Red Poppy-Mallow (_Callirrhoë involucrata_) is the common
poppy-mallow throughout the state and ranges from Minnesota to Mexico, a
solitary flower standing erect from a prostrate branch. The five-pointed
leaves are more or less divided or lobed, sometimes with very linear
divisions. Covering acres and acres of the southern coastal prairie in
March and April, and more or less common on the drier prairies, this
wine cup is a favorite flower. White and pink forms of it exist, but the
wine-red color is predominant.
[Illustration: ROCK ROSE. PAVONIA]
Rock Rose. Pavonia. Pink Mallow (_Pavonia lasiopetala_) has attractive,
deep-pink flowers, which are broadly spreading, about 1½ in. wide. The
plant is branching and shrubby, commonly growing about 2 ft. high, with
ovate or rounded leaves 1-2½ in. long. It is not extremely showy but
makes an excellent low shrub for the garden and will produce an
abundance of blossoms from late spring until fall. It is found in dry,
rocky woods from Central Texas to Mexico.
Pavonia gets its name from the botanist, J. Pavon, who worked
particularly with South American plants. Several South American species
are in cultivation. The Texas pavonia is being introduced in gardens and
rivals the shrubby althea as a summer bloomer, but the plants and
flowers are much smaller.