Flora of North America species comparison

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Malvella sagittifolia

arrowleaf mallow
Stems

prostrate, trailing, invested with silvery-white, lepidote scales.
Leaves

petiole to 1/3 as long as blade;

blade narrowly triangular, 1.5–3.5 cm, usually 3–5(–6) times as long as wide, base truncate, margins entire with 2–4 hastate teeth at base, apex acute, surfaces with sparse, silvery-lepidote scales.
Pedicels

long, usually shorter than subtending leaves, involucellar bractlets 0.
Flowers

calyx 7–9 mm, silvery-lepidote, lobes cordate-ovate, bases plicate-overlapping, apex acuminate;

petals whitish or pale yellow, sometimes fading rose, asymmetric, 15 mm;

stamens pallid, glabrous, staminal column antheriferous at apex;

style 7- or 8-branched, pallid, glabrous.
Schizocarps

5–6 mm diam.

Malvella sagittifolia
Phenology Flowering year-round in warmer areas.
Habitat Heavy, saline soil, mud flats, along lake shores
Elevation 30–1500 m (100–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Malvella sagittifolia is known from Otero County, Colorado; Dona Ana County, New Mexico; in scattered locations in Texas but primarily in the Big Bend region; and in much of central and southern Arizona. The comparatively long leaves with hastate teeth, the lack of any stellate hairs, and the consistent lack of an involucel distinguishes this species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 302.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Malvella
Sibling taxa
M. lepidota, M. leprosa
Synonyms Sida lepidota var. sagittifolia, Disella sagittifolia, S. sagittifolia
Name authority (A. Gray) Fryxell: SouthW. Naturalist 19: 102. (1974)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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