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Alkali Mallow
Malvella leprosa
  
1 Nurseries Carry This Plant

About Alkali Mallow (Malvella leprosa) 1 Nurseries Carry This Plant Malvella leprosa is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names alkali mallow and alkali sida. It is native to much of the western United States, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. It is known in parts of Australia as an introduced species. In many regions, whether native there or not, the plant is often a noxious weed and easily invades habitat, including areas with alkaline and saline soils. In California, the plant can be found in agricultural lands, including fields and orchards. This is a decumbent perennial herb producing a white-hairy stem up to about 40 centimeters long, spreading along the ground. The leaves are variable in shape but are generally lobed and wavy along the edges, measuring 1 to 3 centimeters wide. Leaves appear in the leaf axils singly or in clusters of up to 3. Each flower is a cup-shaped corolla of five petals up to 1.5 centimeters long in shades of white or light yellow. The disc-shaped fruit is divided into several segments.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Perennial herb

Size
Size
0.33 - 1.3 ft tall

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow, White

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 5 confirmed , 3 likely * ) SHOW ALL
Strymon melinus Image
Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinusStrymon melinus
Pyrgus communis Image
Common Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus communisPyrgus communis
Vanessa annabella Image
West Coast Lady Vanessa annabellaVanessa annabella
Pyrgus albescens Image
White Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus albescensPyrgus albescens
Pyrgus scriptura Image
Small Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus scripturaPyrgus scriptura
*
Strymon istapa Image
Mallow Scrub-hairstreak Strymon istapaStrymon istapa
*
Hyles lineata Image
White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Low

Nurseries
Nurseries
Carried by 1

Common uses
Common uses
Butterfly Gardens

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Distrubed saline places

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 2.4" - 48.5", Summer Precipitation: 0.15" - 2.58", Coldest Month: 33.0" - 60.7", Hottest Month: 63.0" - 88.6", Humidity: 0.70" - 42.49", Elevation: -155" - 6765"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Alkali Sida, Whiteweed


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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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