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butterprint, buttonweed, China jute, chingma, Indian hemp, Indian mallow, pie-marker, velvet-leaf, velvetleaf Indian-mallow

Habit Herbs, annual, to 1+ m. Stems erect, stellate-tomentose, without simple hairs.
Leaves

stipules lanceolate;

petiole subequal to blade;

blade concolorous, broadly ovate to suborbiculate, 8–15 cm, ± as long as wide, base cordate, margins crenulate, apex acuminate, surfaces softly pubescent.

Inflorescences

usually solitary flowers, sometimes cymose or racemose.

Flowers

calyx 10 mm, lobes not overlapping, erect in fruit, ovate;

corolla pale yellow throughout, petals 8–13 mm;

staminal column glabrous;

style 13–15-branched.

Seeds

3 per mericarp, 3–4 mm, minutely puberulent.

Schizocarps

broadly ovoid, 15 × 20 mm;

mericarps: apex spinose, spines divergent, 3–6 mm, hirsute.

2n

= 84.

Abutilon theophrasti

Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Soybean, corn, and cotton fields, naturalized in disturbed sites
Elevation 0–1400 m (0–4600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; ON; Europe; Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The history of the introduction of Abutilon theophrasti to North America was recounted by N. R. Spencer (1984). It can be abundant locally, thriving when rich cultivated soils are disturbed, especially in the midwestern region. Interference with crops has been extensive.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 226.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Abutilon
Sibling taxa
A. abutiloides, A. berlandieri, A. coahuilae, A. fruticosum, A. hirtum, A. hulseanum, A. hypoleucum, A. incanum, A. malacum, A. mollicomum, A. palmeri, A. parishii, A. parvulum, A. permolle, A. reventum, A. trisulcatum, A. wrightii
Synonyms Sida abutilon
Name authority Medikus: Malvenfam., 28. (1787)
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