Scientific Family
Malvaceae
Synonyms
Sidalcea neomexicana subsp. diehlii, S. neomexicana var. parviflora, S. parviflora var. thurberi
Other common names
Rocky Mountain checkerbloom
alkali pink
New Mexico checker-mallow
prairie mallow
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Similar species
Sidalcea sparsifolia
Height
To about 3 feet
Riparian
Yes
Upright or trailing plant with 1 or several, single or branched stems. Basal leaves are rounded. Upper stem leaves are deeply divided with lobes resembling the fingers of a hand. Many showy purplish-pink blooms grow at the top of a long flowering stem.
Woody base; leaves round in outline, scalloped near stem base to large palmately dissected up the stem, hairy on both surfaces; flower stalks terminal, leafless, petals 5, 1/2 to 1 inch long, purplish-pink, staminal column (united stamens) usually hairy.
Habitat
Usually found in moist, alkaline (salty) soils in mountain meadows, along rivers, streambanks, brooks, ditches, marshes and bogs as well as in seeps (areas where water oozes slowly out of the ground).
Plant Community
Riparian
Low elevation
5000
High elevation
9500
Flower Characteristics
Saucer-shaped flowers with 5 petals and short, slender stalks grow on an elongated cluster of up to 20 blooms. Each petal is narrowed and white at the base with pale-colored veins. Sharply pointed leaf-like sepals below the flower are white-veined.
Flower color
Purplish-pink
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
June
Last bloom month
September
Flower clusters
Elongated
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Basal leaves are about 2-1/2 inches wide and long: some have no lobes, some are lined by shallow, rounded lobes and some are partially divided into 5, 7 or 9 lobes. Upper leaves have 5, 7 or 9 much more deeply divided lobes resembling fingers on a hand.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Dark green
Leaf shape
Palmate
Leaf margin
Lobed
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruit is dry and almost smooth with a flattened sphere-like shape. When mature, it splits into 5 to 9 segments called
mericarps that are 1/8 to 1/16 inch long. Each has a fine to rough net-like side surface and is usually smooth on the back.
Fruit type
Other
Fruit color
Reddish-green
Each mericarp has 1 seed and does not split open to release the seed when ripe. However, it does separate from the flower stem. Seeds have a bean-like shape, are reddish-brown, are about 1/16 inch wide with a small projection (<1/25 inch) at the tip.