Prostrate to spreading stems reach 2 feet long, are often reddish-brown, and are covered with both star-shaped and simple hairs 1–2 mm long. Note the yellow to orange flowers grow singly (usually) from the leaf axils (not the stem tips), and the narrow to oblong leaves are pointed and lined with rounded teeth. Also called Spreading Sida. The species spelling abutifolia, widely in use, is considered an incorrect variant.

FLOWER: April–September. Flowers 1/2 inch wide (12 mm) with 5 irregularly lobed petals that are yellow, pale-orange, pink, or creamy; stamens yellow. Flowers grow singly, or occasionally 2–3 together, on short pedicels from the leaf axils.

LEAVES: Alternate, on short stems (petioles) 1/4–5/8 inch long (5–15 mm). Blades 5/8 inch long (15 cm), lance-shaped to oval; margins lined with rounded teeth.

HABITAT: Dry sandy, gravelly soils; hills, plains, roadsides, disturbed areas; desert grasslands and scrub

ELEVATION: 3,460–6,400 feet.

RANGE: AZ, NM, OK, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: New Mexico Fanpetals, S. neomexicana, in much the same range, has 1-inch wide flowers in leaf axils, but also prominently in a tight cluster at the stem tips, and narrow, lance-shaped leaves on stems (petioles) to 3/8 inch long (10mm); blades reach 1 3/4 inches long with rounded teeth along the edges.

NM COUNTIES: Southern NM in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats: Chaves, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, Sierra, Valencia.