Eremalche rotundifolia

Desert fivespot, Desert Fivespot

Family: Malvaceae · Type: annual · Native

Desert fivespot is a California native annual found in desert areas of the Mojave Desert bioregion in dry desert scrub at elevations from 50 meters below sea level to 1,200 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces pink-purple flowers with a bright purple base, each petal 15 to 30 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 8 to 60 centimeters tall, sometimes branching from the base and covered in bristly simple hairs. Its leaves are round and kidney-shaped, 1.5 to 6 centimeters wide, with crenate or coarsely toothed edges. The fruit develops into approximately 25 to 35 wafer-like segments with sharp margins and a net-veined outer wall.

Habitat: dry desert scrub

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: -50-1200 m

Bioregions: D

California counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo, Imperial, San Diego, Kern, San Mateo

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