WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Sprawling, densely hairy stems 6–26-inches tall form bushy clumps dotted with colorful reddish-orange to pink flowers. The upper stems bear clusters of cup-shaped flowers. Note the lance-shaped leaves are about twice as long as wide with few or no teeth and a pair of lobes at the base of the blade.

FLOWER: April–August. Flowers solitary (not clusters) in the leaf axils. The 5 petals, each 1/2–3/4-inch long (12–20 mm), have slightly notched tips and a showy stamen column with yellow or purple anthers. This is one of the species with thread-like bractlets below the flower base (calyx) beneath the petals.

LEAVES: Alternate. Blades, 3/4–2 3/8-inches long (2–6 cm), width about 1/2 the length, triangular to lance-shaped with 2 right-angle, pointed basal lobes, and wavy, irregular margins. The surface is rough with prominent clusters of tiny, star-shaped hairs.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly, clay soils, roadsides, disturbed areas; plains, desert grasslands and scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 3,100-7,900 feet.

RANGE: AZ, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: 15 species in New Mexico, many similar and difficult to distinguish in the field. Narrowleaf Globemallow, S. angustifolia, 1–4-feet tall and erect with stout branches, has narrow, 1–2-inch long, lance-shaped leaves, 4–6 times longer than wide, and with wavy edges. 

NM COUNTIES: Widespread in southern and the western half of NM in low- to mid-elevation, arid habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Cibola, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Luna, McKinley, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Valencia.