Sphaeralcea ambigua (Desert Mallow, Apricot Mallow)

 7/3/16 South Lake Road, south of Bishop Creek Lodge, Eastern Sierra,

Inyo National Forest, Inyo County, CA 

7/3/16 With Western Aster (Symphyotrichum ascendens), South Lake Road, south of Bishop Creek Lodge, Eastern Sierra, Inyo National Forest, Inyo County, CA 

7/3/16 With Western Aster (Symphyotrichum ascendens), South Lake Road, south of Bishop Creek Lodge, Eastern Sierra, Inyo National Forest, Inyo County, CA 

 4/27/01 Near campsite #19 wash area, Hole-in-the-Wall, 
Mojave National Preserve, San Bernardino County, CA

 3/13/05 Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside County, CA

7/27/97 Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, San Bernardino County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Desert Mallow, Apricot Mallow

SPECIES: Sphaeralcea ambigua

FAMILY: Malvaceae (Mallow Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 7/27/1997 

LOCATION: Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, San Bernardino County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Plant candescent

Stem erect, 5–10 dm

Leaf: blade 15–50 mm, ± triangular, weakly 3-lobed, green or yellow-green, 3-veined, base wedge-shaped, truncate, cordate, margin crenate, wavy

Inflorescence: tip not leafy

Fruit: segments 9–13, < 6 mm, < 3.5 mm wide, truncate-cylindric, dehiscent part < 3.5 mm, rounded, 60–75% of segment

Seeds 2 per segment, brown, glabrous, ± hairy

Ecology: Desert scrub

Elevation: 150–2500 m.  

Bioregional distribution: s East of Sierra Nevada, Desert 

Distribution outside California: to Utah, Arizona, Mexico