Native Plants

Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

Enter a Plant Name:
Or you can choose a plant family:

Miller, Holmes O.

Eremalche rotundifolia

Eremalche rotundifolia (A. Gray) Greene

Desert Fivespot

Malvaceae (Mallow Family)

Synonym(s): Malvastrum rotundifolium

USDA Symbol: ERRO8

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Flowers form purplish-pink or lilac globes, each open at top and have a deep reddish center, on short branches near the top of this erect, sparsely-leaved plant.

The pinkish, spherical corollas are distinctive and, when light passes through them, they resemble glowing lanterns.

From the Image Gallery

3 photo(s) available in the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual
Habit: Subshrub
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Breeding System: Flowers Bisexual
Fruit Type: Schizocarp
Size Notes: Up to about 2 feet tall.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: Red , Pink , Purple
Bloom Time: Jan , Feb , Mar , Apr , May

Distribution

USA: AZ , CA , NV
Native Distribution: Southeastern California, southern Nevada, and western Arizona.
Native Habitat: Desert washes and flats.

Web Reference

Webref 30 - Calflora (2018) Calflora
Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter

Additional resources

USDA: Find Eremalche rotundifolia in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Eremalche rotundifolia in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Eremalche rotundifolia

Metadata

Record Modified: 2023-04-13
Research By: TWC Staff

Go back