Abutilon parvulum – Dwarf Indian Mallow

Abutilon parvulum - Dwarf Indian Mallow, Dwarf Abutilon (flower)

Abutilon parvulum - Dwarf Indian Mallow, Dwarf Abutilon

Abutilon parvulum - Dwarf Indian Mallow, Dwarf Abutilon (fruit)

Abutilon parvulum - Dwarf Indian Mallow, Dwarf Abutilon

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Abutilon parvulum

Common Names: Dwarf Indian Mallow, Dwarf Abutilon

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert (upper elevation), Upland

Flower Color: Pale orange to pinkish orange

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall. This wildflower blooms whenever there is sufficient moisture during the warm months of the year.

Height: Up to 16 inches (40 cm) tall

Description: The small flowers emerge singly from the leaf axils and have 5 fan-shaped or rounded petals, a hairless staminal column, yellow-orange anthers, and 5 green, point-tipped sepals that become reflexed (bent backwards) as the fruit develops. The flowers are followed by fuzzy, rounded schizocarps (fruit) with 5 or rarely 6 beaked mericarps (segments). The leaves are up to 2 inches (5 cm) long, light green above and below, alternate, heart-shaped, coarsely toothed, and finely covered with star-shaped hairs. The stems are slender, branched, stellate-hairy, and erect to decumbent.

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: Abutilon Mill. – Indian mallow
Species: Abutilon parvulum A. Gray – dwarf Indian mallow

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map