Erect but mostly trailing, sprawling, hairy stems 6–24-inches long often cover wide areas with a mass of blooms. Note the wine-colored, cupped flowers with a white center and showy stamen column.

FLOWERS: March–June. Deep red to burgundy, cup-shaped with 5 showy petals, 3/4–1 1/4 inches (20–30 mm) long, with white center and tubular column with style and numerous stamens; flowers on 1–6 inch long stalks (peduncles) from axils of upper leaves; 3 narrow bracts beneath the flower.

LEAVES: Alternate with palmate lobes. Blade hairy, rounded profile to 2-inches diameter (6 cm), with 5–7 lobes deeply cut almost to center of blade.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly, clay soils, open woods, riparian areas, grasslands, roadsides; prairies, pinyon-juniper, ponderosa/yellow pine forests.

ELEVATION: 5,000–7,000 feet.

RANGE: KS, NE, NM, OK, TX, scattered in surrounding states.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The showy burgundy flower and palmate leaves distinguish this Callirhoe from other mallows.

NM COUNTIES: Scattered in the northern half of NM in mid-elevation, open habitats.