Sphaeralcea munroana

Munro's desert-mallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Munro's desert-mallow is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native shrub found in northern Sierra Nevada Mountains near Squaw Creek in Placer County in dry, open places at elevations around 2,000 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces vibrant red-orange flowers 11 to 14 millimeters long with yellow anthers. Growing as a canescent subshrub with erect stems up to 75 centimeters tall, it develops a distinctive branching structure. Its triangular leaves are 4.5 centimeters or less, green to gray-green, with coarsely dentate edges and shallow or absent lobes. The fruit consists of approximately 12 spherical segments with sharp reflexed tips, each containing a single brown, hairy seed.

Habitat: Dry, open places

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: +- 2000 m.

Bioregions: n SNH (Squaw Creek, Placer Co.)

California counties: Sierra, Inyo

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