Sida spinosa

Prickly sida, Prickly Sida

Family: Malvaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Prickly sida is a naturalized annual found in the San Joaquin Valley in disturbed places and agricultural fields at elevations generally below 300 meters. Flowering from June to October, this plant produces small yellow-white flowers approximately 5 millimeters long, with petals slightly longer than the calyx. Growing with stiff, straight stems 30 to 100 centimeters tall that have ascending branches, it forms an upright agricultural weed with a stellate-puberulent texture. Its leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters long, serrate with a minutely hairy surface, appearing lighter on the undersides and darker green on top. The fruit is round, approximately 4 to 5 millimeters in diameter and nearly glabrous.

Habitat: Scarce; in disturbed places, fields

Bloom period: Jun-Oct?

Elevation: generally < 300 m

Bioregions: SnJV

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