Plant Name
Scientific Name: Anoda cristata
Synonyms: Anoda acerifolia, A. lavaterioides, Sida cristata
Common Names: Crested Anoda, Spurred Anoda, Violettas
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Upland
Flower Color: Lavender to pinkish lavender, White (rare)
Flowering Season: Summer, Fall
Height: Up to 40 inches (1 m) tall
Description: The flowers are solitary and emerge on long stalks from the leaf axils. The individual flowers are less than 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide and have 5 petals, a short, white, hairy central staminal column, and 5 green sepals with long, bristly hairs. The flowers are followed by green, disk-shaped schizocarps (fruit) with 10 to 20 mericarps (segments) covered with long, stiff, bristly hairs. The leaves are green with usually a dark reddish or purplish marking along the midvein, alternate, sparsely hairy, toothed or not, and usually triangular or arrowhead-shaped with prominent basal lobes. The stems are erect or decumbent, green or reddish, and lightly covered with long, stiff, bristly hairs.
The similar Netted Anoda (Anoda reticulata) has slightly rough stems with only a few glandular hairs and spherical fruit covered with fine, short, stellate hairs, while Arizona Anoda (Anoda thurberi) has stems with fine, very short, stellate, glandular hairs and spherical fruit with fine, very short hairs.
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: Anoda Cav. – anoda
Species: Anoda cristata (L.) Schltdl. – crested anoda
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