Southwest Desert Flora

Scientific Name: Sphaeralcea fendleri
Common Name: Fendler’s Globemallow
Also Called: Fendler Globe Mallow, Thicket Globe-mallow (Spanish: Mal de Ojo, Yerba de la Negrita)
Family: Malvaceae, Globe Mallow Family
Synonyms: ()
Status: Native
Duration: Perennial
Size: Up to 4 feet.
Growth Form: Forb/herb, subshrub, erect, stems with grayish or whitish pubescence.
Leaves: Green; alternate, star-like hairs (stellate), palmate, 3 lobed, leaf shape variable, margins scalloped.
Flower Color: Variable, pink or orange, showy, hibiscus like, 5 petals, 5 sepals, flowers single or small clusters borne in leaf axils.
Flowering Season: Summer and fall.
Elevation: 3,000 to 8,000 feet.

Habitat Preferences: Mid- to Upper- Sonoran desert habitats, common in pine forests, sometimes in oaks in lower elevations.

Recorded Range: Fendler's Globemallow is found in the southwest states of AZ, CO, KS, NM and TX and also reported as occurring in Maine. In Arizona it is found above 3,000 feet mostly in the eastern ²⁄₃ of the state, few or no records in the central part of Arizona. It is also native to northern Mexico.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Sphaeralcea fendleri.

U.S. Weed Information: No information available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No information available.
Wetland Indicator: No information available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No information available.

5 sub-species in Sphaeralcea fendleri:
Sphaeralcea fendleri subsp. albescens, Thicket Globemallow (AZ);
Sphaeralcea fendleri subsp. elongata, Thicket Globemallow (AZ, NM);
Sphaeralcea fendleri subsp. fendleri, Fendler's Globemallow (AZ, CO, KS, NM, TX);
Sphaeralcea fendleri subsp. tripartita, Thicket Globemallow (AZ, NM);
Sphaeralcea fendleri subsp. venusta, Thicket Globemallow (AZ).

The Plant List includes 170 scientific plant names of species rank for the genus Sphaeralcea. Of these 53 are accepted species names.

Comments: Fendler’s Globemallow is a conspicuous Globemallow that is not a desert species, preferring pine and oak habitats.

In Southwest Desert Flora also see: Desert Globemallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua; Scarlet Globemallow, Sphaeralcea coccinea; Coulter's Globemallow, Sphaeralcea coulteri and Rusby's Globemallow, Sphaeralcea rusbyi.

Sphaeralcea fendleri has been used as a dermatological and oral aid (Navajo, Kayenta drug) and as an anti hemorrhagic (Navajo, Ramah drug). See ethno-botanical uses at Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn.