PURPLE POPPY-MALLOW
File Size: 88 KB
 
Callirhoe involucrata   (T. & G. ) A. Gray
Ottawa County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: Reclining
Family: Malvaceae - Mallow Family
Flowering Period:   April, May, June, July, August
Also Called: Purple mallow, low poppy mallow.
Stems: Trailing, several to many, branched, more or less hairy, extending up to 30 inches in all directions from crown.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, stalked, round in outline, 1 to 3 inches long, 1.5 to 3.5 inch wide, deeply palmately divided; segments toothed or incised, linear; upper segments usually narrower than lower; straight hairs above, star-shaped hairs below; stipules persistent, generally ovate, .25 to .75 long, .25 to .5 inch wide.
Inflorescences: Solitary flowers, on stalks to 8 inches long, in leaf axils.
Flowers: Calyces 5-lobed, white-veined, long spreading hairy, closely subtended by 3 narrow, leafy bracts; corollas fragrant, 1 to 2.5 inches wide, rose or reddish-purple with white bases, fading purplish; petals 5, .75 to 1.5 inch long; stamens numerous, united into column.
Fruits: Rings of 14-25 wrinkled, hairy, conspicuously beaked, 1-seeded segments; seeds rounded, brown.
Habitat: Dry, open, disturbed areas, pastures, prairies, and roadsides, most abundant in sandy soils.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Forage Value: Sheep and deer will graze purple poppy-mallow.
Uses: The Lakota and Dakota burned the dried roots and inhaled the smoke as a treatment for colds. The roots were also boiled and used for a tea to treat intestinal pains.
Comments: Purple poppy mallow has a deep taproot and is drought resistant.
 Compare with pale poppy mallow

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