Woolly globemallow Woolly globemallow

Plants perennial. Stems decumbent, whitish, 2–7 dm, soft-pubescent. Leaf blades abaxially white to silvery, adaxially green, deltate-ovate, unlobed or 3-lobed, 4 cm, not rugose, base cordate to truncate, margins broadly crenate, surfaces stellate-pubescent. Inflorescences racemose, crowded, few-flowered, tip not leafy; involucellar bractlets green to purple. Flowers: sepals 8–15 mm; petals red to red-pink, 15–25 mm; anthers yellow. Schizocarps hemispheric; mericarps 18, 4 mm, chartaceous, nonreticulate dehiscent part 60–70% of height, tip acute, indehiscent part not wider than dehiscent part. Seeds 2 or 3 per mericarp, brown to black, slightly pubescent.

Flowering fall–spring. Sandy soil, open thickets or roadsides; 0–300 m; Tex.

Sphaeralcea lindheimeri has unusually long and soft hairs and is found usually near the coast.