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![](Forbs/Thumbnails/Sphaeralcea_ambigua_SpFl2_032810_H13.jpg) Flowers Castle Hot Springs RdSue Smith | ![](Forbs/Thumbnails/Sphaeralcea_ambigua_SpFl3_032810_H13.jpg) Flowers Castle Hot Springs RdSue Smith | ![](Forbs/Thumbnails/Sphaeralcea_ambigua_SpL_032810_H13.jpg) Leaf Castle Hot Springs RdSue Smith | ![](Forbs/Thumbnails/Sphaeralcea_ambigua_Sp2_032810_H13.jpg) Plant - summer Castle Hot Springs RdSue Smith | ![](Forbs/Thumbnails/Sphaeralcea_ambigua_Sp_032810_H13.jpg) Plant - summer Castle Hot Springs RdSue Smith | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Perennial Similar Species: Sphaeralcea emoryi
General Desc:
A very drought tolerant, multi-stemmed perennial that grows in large rounded clumps. Stems with gray-green rounded, lobed leaves and topped with open long-branched stems of orange flowers.
Identification notes: Woody-based subshrubs, erect stems few to numerous. Leaves are lobed, but not deeply divided, wider than long, wavy margins, grayish-green, hairy. Bright 5-petaled bowl shaped orange-red flowers are spaced openly along long stalks. Height:
To 40 inches
Habitat Description: Deserts, roadsides, flat areas and banks of sandy washes. Only occasionally as high as 5000 feet, usually below 3500 feet.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Disturbed Areas Elevation: Below 5000 feet
Color:
Orange
Shape:
Regular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Mar - Jun
Description:
Flower colors vary with white, pink, purplish or reddish hues. Has 5 petals to 1-1/2 inches wide developing in clusters along the upper stems. Individual flowers have 3 green sepals.
Leaf Color:
Grayish-green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Triangular
Leaf Margin:
Lobed
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Leaves are triangular with 3 lobes with scalloped edges. To 2-1/2 inches long and wide.
Fruit Color: Brown Fruit Notes: Brown dry fruits (schizocarps) split into separate one-seeded segments at maturity. Seed Notes: Immature seeds are at first quite spherical as implied by the genus name, later flattening to a disk.
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