Modiola caroliniana – Carolina Bristlemallow

Modiola caroliniana - Carolina Bristlemallow, Carolina Modiola, Bristle Mallow, Creeping Mallow, Wheel Mallow, Ground Ivy (flower)

Modiola caroliniana - Carolina Bristlemallow, Carolina Modiola, Bristle Mallow, Creeping Mallow, Wheel Mallow, Ground Ivy (fruit)

Modiola caroliniana - Carolina Bristlemallow, Carolina Modiola, Bristle Mallow, Creeping Mallow, Wheel Mallow, Ground Ivy

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Modiola caroliniana

Synonym: Modiola multifida

Common Names: Carolina Bristlemallow, Carolina Modiola, Bristle Mallow, Creeping Mallow, Wheel Mallow, Ground Ivy

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual, Biennial, Perennial

Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Riparian. This weed typically grows in urban lawns and gardens and in disturbed areas where it can get some extra water.

Flower Color: Reddish pink, pinkish orange

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer

Height: Prostrate, sprawls to 2 feet (61 cm) wide

Description: The flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils. The individual flowers have 5 broad petals. The flowers are followed by wheel-shaped fruit with 2 spines at the edge of each wheel section. The fruit is initially green but matures to black. The leaves have toothed margins, 3 to 7 narrow to broad lobes, and are variably reniform (kidney-shaped), round, or triangular in shape. The plants are low-growing and spreading.

Special Characteristics

Poisonous – This plant is poisonous, so do not allow animals to graze on it.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Dilleniidae
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae – Mallow family
Genus: Modiola Moench – bristlemallow
Species: Modiola caroliniana (L.) G. Don – Carolina bristlemallow

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map