Sphaeralcea orcuttii

Carrizo mallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: annual · Native

Carrizo mallow is a California native annual found in southern desert regions of Sonora in dry, sandy, and slightly alkaline desert scrub at elevations of -20 to 900 meters. Flowering from February to September, this plant produces vibrant red-orange flowers 10 to 12 millimeters long with yellow anthers in raceme-like clusters. Growing with erect stems 50 to 120 centimeters tall and covered in fine yellow-canescent hairs, it has a distinctive yellow-green appearance. Its leaves are rounded to triangular, 30 to 50 millimeters long, with three prominent veins and slightly wavy edges, often with three distinct lobes. The fruit consists of 12 to 17 nearly hemispheric segments, each containing a single brown seed.

Habitat: Dry, sandy, +- alkaline desert scrub

Bloom period: Feb-Sep

Elevation: -20-900 m

Bioregions: s DSon

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