Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures ( Shrubs ), 1 by htop

htop wrote:
Prickly-Mallow, Prickly Fanpetals (Sida spinosa), Malvaceae Family, Texas native, annual/perennial, subshrub, shrub, forb/herb, blooms May to October

It inhabits croplands, abandoned fields, cultivated fields, pastures, gardens, empty lots, grassy areas along railroads and roadsides and waste areas with recently disturbed soil. It has a shallow taproot that divides into secondary roots and spreads by reseeding itself occasionally forming colonies. Although this plant is considered to be a weed by many, it is valuable to wildlife. The blooms attract various bees, including bumblebees, little carpenter bees and halictid bees, as well as small to medium-sized butterflies and skippers. Among them are the clouded sulfur, little yellow, cabbage white, checkered white and common checkered skipper. The foliage may be eaten occasionally by mammalian herbivores. Prickly Sida is a rather unique plant. At first glance, it does not closely resemble other Mallows which are either tall wetland species, small weedy vines, with large blooms or plants that have purple or pink blooms.

For further information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/62753/live_view/

This message was edited Jul 25, 2005 10:05 AM