Anisodontea capensis

Cape mallow, Cape Mallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Cape mallow is a naturalized perennial found in northern coastal ranges, southern California Valley, and other regions in disturbed, generally urban places at elevations especially below 100 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces pale pink flowers with dark veins toward the base, approximately 10 to 15 millimeters wide with distinctive three-lobed petals. Growing as an evergreen plant 0.5 to 2 meters tall with an upright form, it features stems covered in stellate hairs and bristly texture. Its leaves are rough-veined, roughly 2 to 6 centimeters long, with ovate blades that are three-lobed, serrate to crenate-dentate, and have a three-toothed tip. The fruit develops as a small yellow-hairy structure approximately 5 to 6 millimeters in diameter, containing 9 to 12 one-seeded segments.

Habitat: Disturbed, generally urban places

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: especially < 100 m

Bioregions: NCoRO, ScV, expected elsewhere

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.